Age and individual differences in reinforcement learning: A behavioural and electrophysiological study

适应性行为依赖于使用绩效反馈来指导行为的能力。积极和消极的反馈都是重要的，以提高性能，信号要么继续或调整当前的行为和有效的部署注意力资源。在儿童和青少年时期，成绩监测尤其重要，因为他们在社会和教育环境中不断面临新的、往往具有挑战性的学习经历。有证据表明，大脑奖励系统的发展是长期的，这些不成熟可能对个人如何评估绩效反馈产生深远的影响。从头皮记录的事件相关电位（ERP）可以用来研究行为监控及其背后的神经机制，但很少有研究系统地 审查了ERP对整个开发过程中的绩效反馈的反应。重要的是，业绩监测传统上是根据货币反馈进行调查的。然而，最显著的反馈信号可能是社会性的，负面的社会评价可能是导致强烈的大脑奖励反应的有力信号。在方法和结果的增加提高的可能性，个人如何应对消极和积极的反馈的差异可能取决于，部分，在激励因素，如个人差异的敏感性，惩罚和奖励发现与内化和外化的特质，分别。拟议的研究的主要目标是解决现有的不一致性，并系统地研究年龄差异的积极和消极的绩效反馈（包括货币和社会）使用ERP的方法。鉴于情绪和行为障碍从儿童期到青春期的急剧增加，识别奖励相关功能障碍的早期神经标志物可能尤为重要，这些标志物可能先于青春期和成年期出现全阈值障碍。奖励相关的ERP可能是理想的生物标志物，用于研究儿童青春期过渡时出现的奖励敏感性和内化/外化特征的变化。因此，本研究的第二个目标是检查内化/外化特质之间的关联， 从童年晚期到成年早期，对奖励和惩罚表现反馈的反应减弱的假定神经标志物之间的关系。如果要将强化学习错误相关信号的调制解释为生物标志物或风险指标，那么更清楚地了解其功能意义至关重要。这是迈向最终目标的重要的第一步，最终目标是将儿童和青少年时期的神经标记与成年后更严重的内化/外化问题的发展联系起来。

Adaptive behaviours rely on the ability to use performance feedback to guide behaviour. Both positive and negative feedback are important for improving performance, signaling either a continuation or an adjustment of the current behaviour and for the efficient deployment of attentional resources. Performance monitoring is particularly important during childhood and adolescence since they are constantly faced with new, often challenging, learning experiences in social and educational settings. Evidence suggests that there is protracted development of the brain reward system and these immaturities may have profound effects on how individuals evaluate performance feedback. Event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded from the scalp can be used to examine performance monitoring and the neural mechanism underlying it. Few studies have systematically examined ERP responses to performance feedback across development. Importantly, performance monitoring has been traditionally investigated in response to monetary feedback. The most salient feedback signals may, however, be social in nature, and negative social evaluation is likely a potent signal leading to strong brain reward responses. Inconsistencies in methodology and results raise the possibility that differences in how individuals respond to negative and positive feedback may depend, in part, on motivational factors such as individual differences in sensitivity to punishment and reward as found with internalizing and externalizing traits, respectively. The primary goal of the proposed study is to address existing inconsistencies and systematically examine age differences in responses to positive and negative performance feedback (both monetary and social) using an ERP approach. In light of the drastic increase in mood and behavioural disorders from childhood to adolescence, it may be especially important to identify early neural markers of reward-related dysfunction that might precede the emergence of a full-threshold disorder in adolescence and adulthood. Reward-related ERPs may be ideal biomarkers for studying changes in reward sensitivity and internalizing/externalizing traits that emerge as children transition through puberty. Hence, the secondary goal of this study iss to examine the association between internalizing/externalizing traits in relation to a putative neural marker of diminished responsiveness to reward and punishment performance feedback from late childhood to young adulthood. Reaching a clearer understanding of the functional significance of reinforcement learning error related signals is crucial if their modulation were to be interpreted as biomarkers or risk indicators. This is an important first step toward the eventual goal of linking a neural marker seen in childhood and adolescence to the development of more severe internalizing/externalizing problems in adulthood.