Differential but not opponent effects of l-DOPA and citalopram on action learning with reward and punishment

摘要

RationaleDecision-making involves two fundamental axes of control namely valence, spanning reward and punishment, and action, spanning invigoration and inhibition. We recently exploited a goo-go task whose contingencies explicitly decouple valence and action to show that these axes are inextricably coupled during learning. This results in a disadvantage in learning to go to avoid punishment and in learning to no-go to obtain a reward. The neuromodulators dopamine and serotonin are likely to play a role in these asymmetries: Dopamine signals anticipation of future rewards and is also involved in an invigoration of motor responses leading to reward, but it also arbitrates between different forms of control. Conversely, serotonin is implicated in motor inhibition and punishment processing.