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Striatal Prediction Error Tracking Moderates the Influence of Social Exposure on Adolescent Substance Use Curiosity
Jessica S Flannery1, Elizabeth S Escalante2, Ruofan Ma2
1Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
Human Brain Mapping
|May 19, 2026
Summary
Adolescent learning from social feedback, modeled using reinforcement learning (RL), shows varied brain responses linked to substance use. Both under- and over-sensitivity to positive feedback may increase substance use risk.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Computational Psychiatry
Background:
- Adolescence involves heightened sensitivity to social feedback and increased experimentation with substances.
- Reinforcement learning (RL) models can explain learning from experience but are underutilized for adolescent social learning and substance use.
- Understanding how adolescents learn from social cues is crucial for addressing substance use propensity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how adolescents learn from social feedback using computational modeling and fMRI.
- To examine the relationship between reinforcement learning metrics and substance use propensity in adolescents.
- To explore how individual differences in social learning relate to brain activity and substance use risk.
Main Methods:
- Applied computational modeling (Q-learning) to a social RL fMRI paradigm in 261 adolescents (aged 11.0 ± 1.6 years).
- Used prediction errors from Q-learning models to assess brain activity related to social feedback.
- Correlated RL metrics with substance use curiosity and exposure in older adolescents (n=73; 12.9 ± 0.9 years).
Main Results:
- Weaker striatal prediction error tracking of better-than-expected outcomes was associated with higher substance use curiosity and household exposure.
- Adolescents with substance-using peers showed elevated striatal prediction error signals and better positive RL performance when curious.
- Findings suggest a complex relationship between reinforcement sensitivity and substance use propensity.
Conclusions:
- Both hypo- and hyper-sensitivity to positive reinforcement learning signals may increase substance use propensity in adolescents.
- Distinct neural pathways might underlie the association between reinforcement sensitivity and substance use risk.
- This study highlights the importance of social learning processes in adolescent substance use development.
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