Goal-directed instrumental action: contingency and incentive learning and their cortical substrates

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Instrumental behavior is regulated by habit and goal-directed systems.
• Goal-directed processes involve learning instrumental contingencies and reward incentive value.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying instrumental behavior.
• To differentiate the roles of brain regions in contingency and incentive learning.

Main Methods:

• Review of evidence from reward devaluation studies.
• Analysis of instrumental performance sensitivity to reward probability.
• Preliminary lesion studies in rats.

Main Results:

• Contingency learning is supported by evidence of sensitivity to reward probability and devaluation effects.
• Incentive learning is demonstrated by the influence of motivational states on performance.
• The prelimbic prefrontal cortex is implicated in contingency learning.
• The insular cortex is involved in incentive learning for food rewards.

Conclusions:

• Instrumental behavior is underpinned by distinct learning systems.
• Specific brain regions, including the prelimbic cortex and insular cortex, play critical roles in these learning processes.