Dopamine and performance in a reinforcement learning task: evidence from Parkinson's disease.

ABSTRACT: The role dopamine plays in decision-making has important theoretical, empirical and clinical implications. Here, we examined its precise contribution by exploiting the lesion deficit model afforded by Parkinson's disease. We studied patients in a two-stage reinforcement learning task, while they were ON and OFF dopamine replacement medication. Contrary to expectation, we found that dopaminergic drug state (ON or OFF) did not impact learning. Instead, the critical factor was drug state during the performance phase, with patients ON medication choosing correctly significantly more frequently than those OFF medication. This effect was independent of drug state during initial learning and appears to reflect a facilitation of generalization for learnt information. This inference is bolstered by

SUBMITTER: Shiner T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3359751 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature