Age affects reinforcement learning through dopamine-based learning imbalance and high decision noise-not through Parkinsonian mechanisms.

ABSTRACT: Probabilistic reinforcement learning declines in healthy cognitive aging. While some findings suggest impairments are especially conspicuous in learning from rewards, resembling deficits in Parkinson's disease, others also show impairments in learning from punishments. To reconcile these findings, we tested 252 adults from 3 age groups on a probabilistic reinforcement learning task, analyzed trial-by-trial performance with a Q-reinforcement learning model, and correlated both fitted model parameters and behavior to polymorphisms in dopamine-related genes. Analyses revealed that learning from both positive and negative feedback declines with age but through different mechanisms: when learning from negative feedback, older adults were slower due to noisy decision-making; when learning from p

SUBMITTER: Sojitra RB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5993631 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature