Medial-Frontal Stimulation Enhances Learning in Schizophrenia by Restoring Prediction Error Signaling

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
Robert M G ReinhartGeoffrey F Woodman

Abstract

Posterror learning, associated with medial-frontal cortical recruitment in healthy subjects, is compromised in neuropsychiatric disorders. Here we report novel evidence for the mechanisms underlying learning dysfunctions in schizophrenia. We show that, by noninvasively passing direct current through human medial-frontal cortex, we could enhance the event-related potential related to learning from mistakes (i.e., the error-related negativity), a putative index of prediction error signaling in the brain. Following this causal manipulation of brain activity, the patients learned a new task at a rate that was indistinguishable from healthy individuals. Moreover, the severity of delusions interacted with the efficacy of the stimulation to improve learning. Our results demonstrate a causal link between disrupted prediction error signaling and inefficient learning in schizophrenia. These findings also demonstrate the feasibility of nonpharmacological interventions to address cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders. When there is a difference between what we expect to happen and what we actually experience, our brains generate a prediction error signal, so that we can map stimuli to responses and predict outcomes accurately. T...Continue Reading

Citations

Jul 5, 2016·Current Biology : CB·Robert M G ReinhartGeoffrey F Woodman
Aug 9, 2016·Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry·Autumn KujawaK Luan Phan
Oct 30, 2016·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Clay B Holroyd, Akina Umemoto
Mar 28, 2017·Psychological Medicine·C M GillanT W Robbins
Dec 7, 2017·Frontiers in Psychology·Manuela SchuetzeSigne Bray
Oct 27, 2017·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Robert M G Reinhart
Jul 10, 2020·The Neuroscientist : a Review Journal Bringing Neurobiology, Neurology and Psychiatry·Valentina CiulloFederica Piras
Oct 21, 2017·Brain : a Journal of Neurology·Natasza D OrlovSukhi S Shergill
Apr 10, 2019·Nature Neuroscience·Robert M G Reinhart, John A Nguyen
Oct 16, 2020·Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience·Chong Zhao, Geoffrey F Woodman
Aug 24, 2021·Perceptual and Motor Skills·Robert Numan

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