Cortical functionality during reversal learning on a decision-making task in young men

Abstract

The evaluation of external and internal stimuli permits the ongoing actualization of choice-related information and, thus, the association between stimuli and outcomes. This process is essential to decision-making as it allows constant adaptation to environmental changes in order to maximize gains and minimize losses. Reversal learning paradigms are used to study this process, which has been associated with prefrontal cortex activity (frontopolar, dorsolateral) in conjunction with posterior areas (parietal, temporal), due to their participation in integrating and processing the stimuli-reward relation. The aim of this study was to assess the cortical functionality associated with reversal learning during the decision-making process. The EEG activity of 22 young men was recorded while performing a decision-making task in a reversal learning condition compared to an initial learning condition. EEG data were analyzed during evaluation of the stimuli, before motor execution (formation of preferences), and during task feedback (outcome evaluation). The formation of preferences stage was characterized by a higher correlation of the alpha2 band between the parietal cortices. In the feedback stage of the reversal learning condition, a higher absolute power of the theta band in the left dorsolateral (F3), and a lower correlation of the alpha1 band between the right frontopolar and dorsolateral (Fp2-F4), as well as between the right frontopolar and temporal (Fp2-T4), were observed. The data obtained show that the EEG activity of the areas recorded changed in the evaluation of the stimuli information in the reversal learning condition during a decision-making task.