Emotion prediction errors guide socially adaptive behaviour.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Decision-making models traditionally focus on reward prediction errors.
• Emotion prediction errors, deviations from expected emotional experiences, are understudied.
• Understanding emotional influences on social decisions is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the distinct roles of emotion and reward prediction errors in decision-making.
• To examine the temporal dynamics of emotional influence on social choices.
• To explore how depression affects the use of prediction errors in decision-making.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a novel method to measure real-time emotional fluctuations during social decision tasks.
• Conducted four studies with a total of 1,016 participants.
• Analyzed the impact of emotion and reward prediction errors on choices to punish or forgive.

Main Results:

• Emotion prediction errors significantly impact decision-making, often more than reward prediction errors.
• Social choices (punish/forgive) can be predicted from evolving emotional responses in under a second.
• Individuals with depression show impaired use of emotion prediction errors, but not reward prediction errors.

Conclusions:

• Emotion prediction errors are potent drivers of social behavior, challenging existing reward-centric decision-making models.
• Emotional responses rapidly inform social choices, highlighting the interplay between emotion and cognition.
• Selective deficits in processing emotion prediction errors may contribute to impairments seen in depression.