QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, April 11, 2007, 27(15):4019-4026; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0564-07.2007

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (26) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Valentin, V. V. Articles by O'Doherty, J. P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Valentin, V. V. Articles by O'Doherty, J. P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Determining the Neural Substrates of Goal-Directed Learning in the Human Brain

Vivian V. Valentin,^1,2 Anthony Dickinson,³ and John P. O'Doherty^1,2

¹Division of Humanities and Social Sciences and ²Computation and Neural Systems Program, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, and ³Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom

Correspondence should be addressed to John P. O'Doherty, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Mail Code 228-77, Pasadena, CA 91125. Email: jdoherty{at}hss.caltech.edu

Instrumental conditioning is considered to involve at least two distinct learning systems: a goal-directed system that learns associations between responses and the incentive value of outcomes, and a habit system that learns associations between stimuli and responses without any link to the outcome that that response engendered. Lesion studies in rodents suggest that these two distinct components of instrumental conditioning may be mediated by anatomically distinct neural systems. The aim of the present study was to determine the neural substrates of the goal-directed component of instrumental learning in humans. Nineteen human subjects were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while they learned to choose instrumental actions that were associated with the subsequent delivery of different food rewards (tomato juice, chocolate milk, and orange juice). After training, one of these foods was devalued by feeding the subject to satiety on that food. The subjects were then scanned again, while being re-exposed to the instrumental choice procedure (in extinction). We hypothesized that regions of the brain involved in goal-directed learning would show changes in their activity as a function of outcome devaluation. Our results indicate that neural activity in one brain region in particular, the orbitofrontal cortex, showed a strong modulation in its activity during selection of a devalued compared with a nondevalued action. These results suggest an important contribution of orbitofrontal cortex in guiding goal-directed instrumental choices in humans.

Key words: decision making; habit learning; instrumental conditioning; orbitofrontal cortex; outcome devaluation; reinforcement learning; fMRI; reward

---

Received Nov. 21, 2006; revised March 5, 2007; accepted March 6, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to John P. O'Doherty, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Boulevard, Mail Code 228-77, Pasadena, CA 91125. Email: jdoherty{at}hss.caltech.edu

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. Talmi, P. Dayan, S. J. Kiebel, C. D. Frith, and R. J. Dolan How Humans Integrate the Prospects of Pain and Reward during Choice J. Neurosci., November 18, 2009; 29(46): 14617 - 14626. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Padoa-Schioppa Range-Adapting Representation of Economic Value in the Orbitofrontal Cortex J. Neurosci., November 4, 2009; 29(44): 14004 - 14014. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Palminteri, T. Boraud, G. Lafargue, B. Dubois, and M. Pessiglione Brain Hemispheres Selectively Track the Expected Value of Contralateral Options J. Neurosci., October 28, 2009; 29(43): 13465 - 13472. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. de Wit, P. R. Corlett, M. R. Aitken, A. Dickinson, and P. C. Fletcher Differential Engagement of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex by Goal-Directed and Habitual Behavior toward Food Pictures in Humans J. Neurosci., September 9, 2009; 29(36): 11330 - 11338. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Schwabe and O. T. Wolf Stress Prompts Habit Behavior in Humans J. Neurosci., June 3, 2009; 29(22): 7191 - 7198. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Naneix, A. R. Marchand, G. D. Scala, J.-R. Pape, and E. Coutureau A Role for Medial Prefrontal Dopaminergic Innervation in Instrumental Conditioning J. Neurosci., May 20, 2009; 29(20): 6599 - 6606. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. A. Hare, C. F. Camerer, and A. Rangel Self-Control in Decision-Making Involves Modulation of the vmPFC Valuation System Science, May 1, 2009; 324(5927): 646 - 648. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Glascher, A. N. Hampton, and J. P. O'Doherty Determining a Role for Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Encoding Action-Based Value Signals During Reward-Related Decision Making Cereb Cortex, February 1, 2009; 19(2): 483 - 495. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Shea, K. Krug, and P. N. Tobler Conceptual representations in goal-directed decision making Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci, December 1, 2008; 8(4): 418 - 428. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. C. Tanaka, B. W. Balleine, and J. P. O'Doherty Calculating Consequences: Brain Systems That Encode the Causal Effects of Actions J. Neurosci., June 25, 2008; 28(26): 6750 - 6755. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. A. Murray, J. P. O'Doherty, and G. Schoenbaum What We Know and Do Not Know about the Functions of the Orbitofrontal Cortex after 20 Years of Cross-Species Studies J. Neurosci., August 1, 2007; 27(31): 8166 - 8169. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help