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Impaired preference conditioning after anterior temporal lobe resection in humans
I S Johnsrude1, A M Owen, N M White
1Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, CB2 2EF United Kingdom. ingrid.johnsrude@mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk
Summary
The amygdaloid nuclear complex (ANC) is crucial for reward learning in humans. Damage to the ANC impairs conditioned preferences, highlighting its role in associating rewards with stimuli.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Animal studies indicate the amygdaloid nuclear complex (ANC) is vital for associative learning between rewards and neutral stimuli.
- This learning often results in a preference for conditioned stimuli.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of the ANC in preference learning in humans.
- To determine if the ANC is necessary for conditioned reward learning.
Main Methods:
- Subjects were presented with three abstract patterns over 180 trials.
- One pattern was consistently paired with reward, while others had varying reward ratios.
- Participants' preferences and working memory were assessed.
- Patient groups with ANC lesions or frontal cortex damage were compared to controls.
Main Results:
- Normal participants showed a preference for patterns associated with higher reward frequency.
- Patients with ANC lesions did not develop conditioned preferences but had intact working memory.
- Patients with frontal cortex damage had normal preferences but impaired working memory.
Conclusions:
- A double dissociation was observed, confirming the ANC's critical role in reward-related learning in humans.
- This suggests a circuit involving the inferotemporal cortex and ANC is essential for conditioned reward.
- Preference learning is dissociable from working memory functions.
