Modulating affective learning in volatile environments

Le résumé fourni par la source

In everyday life, we have to adapt our decisions to approach or avoid situations based on constantly changing environments. Persistent problems in adaptive approach-avoidance decision-making are at the basis of neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety and aggression. To better prevent and treat such disorders, it is critical to understand the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying affective decision-making. Our brains can compute the value of the potential outcome of the decision (should I approach to obtain a reward or avoid to prevent a threat?) and track the probability of obtaining the outcome (is the chosen action always followed by the desired outcome?). Two central structures in the brain, the Amygdala and dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC), have been suggested to play a role in this decision process, but the evidence in humans is mostly correlational. In this study, we aim to obtain causal evidence regarding the role of the Amygdala and dACC in affective decision-making in volatile situations. Healthy participants will conduct a behavioural approach-avoidance reinforcement-learning (AA-RL) task in the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scanner shortly after receiving non-invasive brain stimulation using Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (TUS) to modulate activity in the previously named network nodes. Changes following TUS will both be measured by recording behavioural responses and recording fMRI measurements of the whole brain during task performance. This study will help understand the neurophysiological mechanisms behind volatility in affective decision-making.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.