Acute stress impairs reward positivity effect in probabilistic learning
Year of publication
2020
Authors
Zhang, Xukai; Li, Peng; Chen, Jie; Li, Hong
Abstract
Decision making based on feedback learning requires a series of cognitive processes, including estimating the probability of particular outcomes and modulating expectations between expected versus actual outcomes. It has been suggested that stress affects decision making and subsequent processing of feedback valence and magnitude. However, less is known about the effect of acute stress on reward expectancy. In the current study, participants performed a probabilistic learning task, in which they learned an association between response and feedback within different reward expectancy trials (30% and 70%) under the conditions of stress (threat of shock) and safety (no shock). We recorded event‐related potentials (ERPs) to measure the reward positivity (RewP) which reflects reward prediction error signals during feedback processing. Behavioral data indicated that participants performed better in the 70% reward trials than in the 30% reward trials. However, no significant difference was observed between stress and safe conditions. Importantly, ERP results indicated that unexpected feedback elicited larger RewP than did expected feedback and this expectancy effect of RewP was reduced in the stress relative to safe condition. Moreover, the correlations between RewP and choice accuracy (70% − 30% reward condition) in the safe and stress conditions were in a similar pattern; yet, only in the stress condition the correlation reached significantly. This may indicate that blunted RewP was associated with impaired performance at an individual level. Our study provides ERP evidence that acute stress affects brain responses to reward prediction error processing, which may explain various abnormal learning behaviors associated with stress‐related disorders.
Show moreOrganizations and authors
University of Jyväskylä
Zhang Xukai
Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Original article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A1 Journal article (refereed), original researchPublication channel information
Journal
Publisher
Volume
57
Issue
4
Article number
e13531
ISSN
Publication forum
Publication forum level
2
Open access
Open access in the publisher’s service
No
Self-archived
No
Other information
Fields of science
Neurosciences; Psychology
Keywords
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
Publication country
United States
Internationality of the publisher
International
Language
English
International co-publication
Yes
Co-publication with a company
No
DOI
10.1111/psyp.13531
The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection
Yes