Hierarchical prediction errors in midbrain and septum during social learning.

ABSTRACT: Social learning is fundamental to human interactions, yet its computational and physiological mechanisms are not well understood. One prominent open question concerns the role of neuromodulatory transmitters. We combined fMRI, computational modelling and genetics to address this question in two separate samples (N = 35, N = 47). Participants played a game requiring inference on an adviser's intentions whose motivation to help or mislead changed over time. Our analyses suggest that hierarchically structured belief updates about current advice validity and the adviser's trustworthiness, respectively, depend on different neuromodulatory systems. Low-level prediction errors (PEs) about advice accuracy not only activated regions known to support 'theory of mind', but also the dopaminergic midbr

SUBMITTER: Diaconescu AO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5390746 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature