Fear and Reward: Role of Dopamine in Predictive Learning

恐惧与奖励：多巴胺在预测学习中的作用

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-03658
• 负责人: Iordanova, Mihaela
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: Concordia University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=630732
• 关键词: Fear; Reward; Role; Dopamine; Predictive

The ability to make predictions about the world and update those predictions with new information is essential to everyday functioning. The current research program seeks to shed light on how dopamine and target brain structures processes the establishment of predictive learning and how these predictions can be modified in the face of changing contingencies in the appetitive and aversive settings. The project will employ a combination of causal (optogenetics) and correlational (in vivo electrophysiology) neuroscience techniques in order to examine how excitation and inhibition of specific neuronal types (dopamine cells) lead to alternation in learning, behavior, and neural firing in brain areas that receive direct dopamine input. This project will specifically seek to determine whether dopamine processes learning about fear and reward in similar or opposing fashion. This will be done by employing a blocking design and examining whether dopamine regulates learning via error-correcting or value mechanisms, whether it plays a role in regulating attentional processes, as well as determine what information is carried by the dopamine signal at time of prediction and whether inhibiting this signal reinstates learning and neural firing to expected rewards. This research will shed important light on dopamine function in learning more generally by looking at both fear and reward learning.

对世界做出预测并用新信息更新这些预测的能力对日常运作至关重要。当前的研究计划旨在阐明多巴胺和目标大脑结构如何处理预测学习的建立，以及如何在食欲和厌恶环境中面对不断变化的突发事件时修改这些预测。该项目将采用因果（光遗传学）和相关（体内电生理学）神经科学技术的组合，以研究特定神经元类型（多巴胺细胞）的兴奋和抑制如何导致接受直接多巴胺输入的大脑区域的学习，行为和神经放电的交替。这个项目将特别寻求确定多巴胺是否以类似或相反的方式处理学习恐惧和奖励。这将通过采用阻断设计并检查多巴胺是否通过纠错或价值机制来调节学习，它是否在调节注意力过程中发挥作用，以及确定预测时多巴胺信号携带的信息以及抑制该信号是否恢复学习和神经放电以获得预期的奖励。这项研究将通过观察恐惧和奖励学习，更广泛地揭示多巴胺在学习中的功能。