An effect of serotonergic stimulation on learning rates for rewards apparent after long intertrial intervals.

ABSTRACT: Serotonin has widespread, but computationally obscure, modulatory effects on learning and cognition. Here, we studied the impact of optogenetic stimulation of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons in mice performing a non-stationary, reward-driven decision-making task. Animals showed two distinct choice strategies. Choices after short inter-trial-intervals (ITIs) depended only on the last trial outcome and followed a win-stay-lose-switch pattern. In contrast, choices after long ITIs reflected outcome history over multiple trials, as described by reinforcement learning models. We found that optogenetic stimulation during a trial significantly boosted the rate of learning that occurred due to the outcome of that trial, but these effects were only exhibited on choices after long ITIs. This suggests

SUBMITTER: Iigaya K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6018802 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature