HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 95/1/301    most recent 00762.2005v1 Alert me when this article is cited 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 (22) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Tobler, P. N. Articles by Schultz, W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Tobler, P. N. Articles by Schultz, W.

Human Neural Learning Depends on Reward Prediction Errors in the Blocking Paradigm

¹Department of Anatomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge; and ²Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom

Submitted 19 July 2005; accepted in final form 21 September 2005

Learning occurs when an outcome deviates from expectation (prediction error). According to formal learning theory, the defining paradigm demonstrating the role of prediction errors in learning is the blocking test. Here, a novel stimulus is blocked from learning when it is associated with a fully predicted outcome, presumably because the occurrence of the outcome fails to produce a prediction error. We investigated the role of prediction errors in human reward-directed learning using a blocking paradigm and measured brain activation with functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants showed blocking of behavioral learning with juice rewards as predicted by learning theory. The medial orbitofrontal cortex and the ventral putamen showed significantly lower responses to blocked, compared with nonblocked, reward-predicting stimuli. In reward-predicting control situations, deactivations in orbitofrontal cortex and ventral putamen occurred at the time of unpredicted reward omissions. Responses in discrete parts of orbitofrontal cortex correlated with the degree of behavioral learning during, and after, the learning phase. These data suggest that learning in primary reward structures in the human brain correlates with prediction errors in a manner that complies with principles of formal learning theory.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Kumar, G. Waiter, T. Ahearn, M. Milders, I. Reid, and J. D. Steele Abnormal temporal difference reward-learning signals in major depression Brain, August 1, 2008; 131(8): 2084 - 2093. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. A. Hare, J. O'Doherty, C. F. Camerer, W. Schultz, and A. Rangel Dissociating the Role of the Orbitofrontal Cortex and the Striatum in the Computation of Goal Values and Prediction Errors J. Neurosci., May 28, 2008; 28(22): 5623 - 5630. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Bray and J. O'Doherty Neural Coding of Reward-Prediction Error Signals During Classical Conditioning With Attractive Faces J Neurophysiol, April 1, 2007; 97(4): 3036 - 3045. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. P. McNally and R. F. Westbrook Predicting danger: The nature, consequences, and neural mechanisms of predictive fear learning. Learn. Mem., May 1, 2006; 13(3): 245 - 253. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. D. Iordanova, G. P. McNally, and R. F. Westbrook Opioid Receptors in the Nucleus Accumbens Regulate Attentional Learning in the Blocking Paradigm J. Neurosci., April 12, 2006; 26(15): 4036 - 4045. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]