Event Abstract Back to Event The BOLD response in the nucleus accumbens quantitatively represents the reward prediction error Eric E. DeWitt1* and Paul Glimcher1 1 New York University , United States We show that the BOLD response in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) quantitatively represents the reward prediction error (RPE) defined in standard models of reinforcement learning. Behavioral measurements of individual subjects engaged in a reinforcement learning task and matched neural measurements in the NAcc allowed us to identify a psychometric-neurometric match between the behavioral and neural learning functions. Subjects made a series of choices between two lotteries in each of a series of behavioral and fMRI imaging sessions. At the beginning of each session, subjects were given a cash endowment ($25 behavioral sessions; $45 fMRI). Each binomial lottery in the offered pair had the same prizes ( /-$2) but the probabilities of winning and losing were different, and randomly drawn from a fixed set. On each trial, the subject was cued to make a choice between the two lotteries on offer and then, after a variable delay, the lottery was played, the dollar outcome revealed and the gain or loss added to the subject's choice probability as a function of the history of reinforcement. Adapting the analysis used in Bayer and Glimcher (2004), we also performed a linear regression that predicted the BOLD response in the anatomically defined NAcc for each subject as a function of the history of reinforcement. By comparing these two reinforcement history weighting functions we could perform a psychometic-neurometric match that independently related the history of reward to neural activity and choice. We observed a psychometric-neurometric match between these neural and behavioral functions at two points in the trial: immediately prior to choice where the neural and behavioral functions reflect the expected reward and at the time of reinforcement were the function reflects the difference between expected and obtained reward-both signals of the reward prediction error employed in temporal difference RL models. We conclude that the human nucleus accumbens quantitatively reflects the calculation of a RPE signal of the kind proposed in temporal difference RL models. Conference: Computational and Systems Neuroscience 2010, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, 25 Feb - 2 Mar, 2010. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Poster session I Citation: DeWitt EE and Glimcher P (2010). The BOLD response in the nucleus accumbens quantitatively represents the reward prediction error. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Computational and Systems Neuroscience 2010. doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2010.03.00079 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 19 Feb 2010; Published Online: 19 Feb 2010. * Correspondence: Eric E DeWitt, New York University, Newyork, United States, edewitt@nyu.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Eric E DeWitt Paul Glimcher Google Eric E DeWitt Paul Glimcher Google Scholar Eric E DeWitt Paul Glimcher PubMed Eric E DeWitt Paul Glimcher Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.