Project Details
Projekt
Model-free and model-based learning in healthy and pathological cognition
Applicant
Dr. Nuria Doñamayor Alonso
Subject Area
Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience
Term
from 2015 to 2018
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 274980831
The proposed project aims to characterise the mechanisms involved in model-free and model-based learning, and to contribute to the understanding of their role in healthy and pathological cognition. To this end, sequential two-choice Markov decision tasks will be used to dissociate model-free from model-based behaviour, on the basis of an established computational model. The tasks will be used with both appetitive and aversive feedback. The studies described in this proposal will employ electrophysiology and neuroimaging, and will focus on both healthy participants and patient groups, specifically patients with Parkinson´s disease and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Firstly, the proposed research aims to identify the electrophysiological correlates, as well as the neural network and functional and anatomical connectivity of model-free and model-based learning in healthy participants. Given the known importance of dopamine in reinforcement learning, the project also addresses the effects of this neurotransmitter on model-free and model based behaviour with Parkinson´s disease patients ´on´ and ´off´ medication. Finally, it is planned to examine the influence of the different types of feedback on obsessive-compulsive behaviour and explore whether a bias towards model-free behaviour can be established as a possible endophenotype of this disorder. This project will draw upon the expertise of Dr. Valerie Voon and her research group (University of Cambridge), who have extensive experience in research with neuropsychiatric patient populations and the neuroscientific methods required for the objectives of the research plan.
DFG Programme
Research Fellowships
International Connection
United Kingdom
