Defining the Neural Mechanisms of Probabilistic Reversal Learning Using Event-Related Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure blood oxygenation level-dependent responses in 13 young healthy human volunteers during performance of a probabilistic reversal-learning task. The task allowed the separate investigation of the relearning of stimulus-reward associations and the reception of negative feedback. Significant signal change in the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was demonstrated on trials when subjects stopped responding to the previously relevant stimulus and shifted responding to the newly relevant stimulus. Significant signal change in the region of the ventral striatum was also observed on such reversal errors, from a region of interest analysis. The…

• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• PU
  Parkinson's UK
• MR
  Medical Research Council