Continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) over the lateral prefrontal cortex alters reinforcement learning bias
Publication year
2011Number of pages
7 p.
Source
NeuroImage, 57, 2, (2011), pp. 617-623ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor

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Organization
SW OZ DCC SMN
Journal title
NeuroImage
Volume
vol. 57
Issue
iss. 2
Languages used
English (eng)
Page start
p. 617
Page end
p. 623
Subject
Biological psychology; DI-BCB_DCC_Theme 2: Perception, Action and Control; DI-BCB_DCC_Theme 3: Plasticity and Memory; Biologische psychologieAbstract
The prefrontal cortex is known to play a key role in higher-order cognitive functions. Recently, we showed that this brain region is active in reinforcement learning, during which subjects constantly have to integrate trial outcomes in order to optimize performance. To further elucidate the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in reinforcement learning, we applied continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS) either to the left or right DLPFC, or to the vertex as a control region, respectively, prior to the performance of a probabilistic learning task in an fMRI environment. While there was no influence of cTBS on learning performance per se, we observed a stimulation-dependent modulation of reward vs. punishment sensitivity: Left-hemispherical DLPFC stimulation led to a more reward-guided performance, while right-hemispherical cTBS induced a more avoidance-guided behavior. FMRI results showed enhanced prediction error coding in the ventral striatum in subjects stimulated over the left as compared to the right DLPFC. Both behavioral and imaging results are in line with recent findings that left, but not right-hemispherical stimulation can trigger a release of dopamine in the ventral striatum, which has been suggested to increase the relative impact of rewards rather than punishment on behavior.
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- Faculty of Social Sciences [27347]
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