Reduced reward-related probability learning in schizophrenia patients


YILMAZ A., Şimşek F., Gönül A. S.

NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISEASE AND TREATMENT, cilt.8, ss.27-34, 2012 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 8
  • Basım Tarihi: 2012
  • Doi Numarası: 10.2147/ndt.s26243
  • Dergi Adı: NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISEASE AND TREATMENT
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.27-34
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: reinforcement learning, reward, punishment, motivation, HUMAN BRAIN, PREFRONTAL CORTEX, DEFICIT, DYSFUNCTION, ACTIVATION, PREDICTION, ANHEDONIA, MEMORY, DISSOCIATION, ASSOCIATION
  • Erciyes Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Although it is known that individuals with schizophrenia demonstrate marked impairment in reinforcement learning, the details of this impairment are not known. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that reward-related probability learning is altered in schizophrenia patients. Twenty-five clinically stable schizophrenia patients and 25 age- and gender-matched controls participated in the study. A simple gambling paradigm was used in which five different cues were associated with different reward probabilities (50%, 67%, and 100%). Participants were asked to make their best guess about the reward probability of each cue. Compared with controls, patients had significant impairment in learning contingencies on the basis of reward-related feedback. The correlation analyses revealed that the impairment of patients partially correlated with the severity of negative symptoms as measured on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale but that it was not related to antipsychotic dose. In conclusion, the present study showed that the schizophrenia patients had impaired reward-based learning and that this was independent from their medication status.