Dual process impairments in reinforcement learning and working memory systems underlie learning deficits in physiological anxiety.

ABSTRACT: Anxiety has been robustly linked to deficits in frontal executive function including working memory (WM) and attentional control processes. However, although anxiety has also been associated with impaired performance on learning tasks, computational investigations of reinforcement learning (RL) impairment in anxiety have yielded mixed results. WM processes are known to contribute to learning behavior in parallel to RL processes and to modulate the effective learning rate as a function of load. However, WM processes have typically not been modeled in investigations of anxiety and RL. In the current study, we leveraged an experimental paradigm (RLWM) which manipulates the relative contributions of WM and RL processes in a reinforcement learning and retention task using multiple stimulus set

SUBMITTER: Senta JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12500139 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature