Dataset Information

Abnormal modulation of reward versus punishment learning by a dopamine D2-receptor antagonist in pathological gamblers.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Pathological gambling has been associated with dopamine transmission abnormalities, in particular dopamine D2-receptor deficiency, and reversal learning deficits. Moreover, pervasive theoretical accounts suggest a key role for dopamine in reversal learning. However, there is no empirical evidence for a direct link between dopamine, reversal learning and pathological gambling.

Objective

The aim of the present study is to triangulate dopamine, reversal learning, and pathological gambling.

Methods

Here, we assess the hypothesis that pathological gambling is accompanied by dopamine-related problems with learning from reward and punishment by investigating effects of the dopamine D2-receptor antagonist sulpiride (400 mg) on reward- and punishment-based reversal learning in 18 pathological gamblers and 22 healthy controls, using a placebo-controlled, double-blind, counter-balanced design.

Results

In line with previous studies, blockade of D2 receptors with sulpiride impaired reward versus punishment reversal learning in controls. By contrast, sulpiride did not have any outcome-specific effects in gamblers.

Conclusion

These data demonstrate that pathological gambling is associated with a dopamine-related anomaly in reversal learning from reward and punishment.

SUBMITTER: Janssen LK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4537492 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Abnormal modulation of reward versus punishment learning by a dopamine D2-receptor antagonist in pathological gamblers.

Janssen Lieneke Katharina LK Sescousse Guillaume G Hashemi Mahur Melina MM Timmer Monique Harmina Maria MH ter Huurne Niels Peter NP Geurts Dirk Everdina Maria DE Cools Roshan R

Psychopharmacology 20150620 18

<h4>Rationale</h4>Pathological gambling has been associated with dopamine transmission abnormalities, in particular dopamine D2-receptor deficiency, and reversal learning deficits. Moreover, pervasive theoretical accounts suggest a key role for dopamine in reversal learning. However, there is no empirical evidence for a direct link between dopamine, reversal learning and pathological gambling.<h4>Objective</h4>The aim of the present study is to triangulate dopamine, reversal learning, and pathol ...[more]

PMID: 26092311

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Project description:In the DSM-5, psychiatric diagnoses are made based on self-reported symptoms and clinician-identified signs. Though helpful in choosing potential interventions based on the available regimens, this conceptualization of psychiatric diseases can limit basic science investigation into their underlying causes. The reward prediction error (RPE) hypothesis of dopamine neuron function posits that phasic dopamine signals encode the difference between the rewards a person expects and experiences. The computational framework from which this hypothesis was derived, temporal difference reinforcement learning (TDRL), is largely focused on reward processing rather than punishment learning. Many psychiatric disorders are characterized by aberrant behaviors, expectations, reward processing, and hypothesized dopaminergic signaling, but also characterized by suffering and the inability to change one's behavior despite negative consequences. In this review, we provide an overview of the RPE theory of phasic dopamine neuron activity and review the gains that have been made through the use of computational reinforcement learning theory as a framework for understanding changes in reward processing. The relative dearth of explicit accounts of punishment learning in computational reinforcement learning theory and its application in neuroscience is highlighted as a significant gap in current computational psychiatric research. Four disorders comprise the main focus of this review: two disorders of traditionally hypothesized hyperdopaminergic function, addiction and schizophrenia, followed by two disorders of traditionally hypothesized hypodopaminergic function, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Insights gained from a reward processing based reinforcement learning framework about underlying dopaminergic mechanisms and the role of punishment learning (when available) are explored in each disorder. Concluding remarks focus on the future directions required to characterize neuropsychiatric disorders with a hypothesized cause of underlying dopaminergic transmission.

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Dataset Information

Abnormal modulation of reward versus punishment learning by a dopamine D2-receptor antagonist in pathological gamblers.

Rationale

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Abnormal modulation of reward versus punishment learning by a dopamine D2-receptor antagonist in pathological gamblers.

Similar Datasets

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