Instrumental Learning Task Research Articles

Feedback that confirms reward expectation triggers auditory cortex activity

Associative learning studies have shown that the anticipation of reward and punishment shapes the representation of sensory stimuli, which is further modulated by dopamine. Less is known about whether and how reward delivery activates sensory cortices and the role of dopamine at that time point of learning. We used an appetitive instrumental learning task in which participants had to learn that a specific class of frequency-modulated tones predicted a monetary reward following fast and correct responses in a succeeding reaction time task. These fMRI data were previously analyzed regarding the effect of reward anticipation, but here we focused on neural activity to the reward outcome relative to the reward expectation and tested whether such activation in the reward reception phase is modulated by L-DOPA. We analyzed neural responses at the time point of reward outcome under three different conditions: 1) when a reward was expected and received, 2) when a reward was expected but not received, and 3) when a reward was not expected and not received. Neural activity in auditory cortex was enhanced during feedback delivery either when an expected reward was received or when the expectation of obtaining no reward was correct. This differential neural activity in auditory cortex was only seen in subjects who learned the reward association and not under dopaminergic modulation. Our data provide evidence that auditory cortices are active at the time point of reward outcome. However, responses are not dependent on the reward itself but on whether the outcome confirmed the subject's expectations.

Chronic scopolamine-injection-induced cognitive deficit on reward-directed instrumental learning in rat is associated with CREB signaling activity in the cerebral cortex and dorsal hippocampus

Scopolamine, a nonselective muscarinic receptor antagonist, has been used in experimental animal models of dementia. It has been demonstrated to disrupt performances in a battery of behavioral tests. However, no attempt has been made to determine how scopolamine-treated animals would respond to a series of reward-directed instrumental learning (RDIL) tasks. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of chronic intraperitoneal injection of scopolamine in Wistar rats on RDIL, as well as on the expression of memory-related molecules in the dorsal hippocampus (DH) and cerebral cortex (CCx). The effects of the pretraining injection of scopolamine on the acquisition of instrumental response (experiment 1) were first investigated. Then, the effects of post-training manipulation on the maintenance of instrumental response and the responses to changes in contingency degradation and signal discrimination were assessed (experiment 2). Finally, the expression of cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB), phosphorylated CREB, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the DH and CCx were examined using Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The acquisition of instrumental conditioning is more vulnerable than its maintenance. The 3.0-mg/kg dose of scopolamine rendered rats unable to make adaptive changes in facing contingency degradation and correct responses in signal discrimination tasks. Furthermore, CREB signaling was inactivated by pretraining scopolamine treatment in both the DH and CCx. Nevertheless, this pathway was selectively suppressed by post-training treatment only in the CCx during memory reconsolidation. The results suggest that scopolamine-induced cognitive deficits on RDIL are related to the distinguishing alteration of CREB signaling in the DH and CCx.

Instrumental learning: An animal model for sleep dependent memory enhancement

The relationship between learning and sleep is multifaceted; learning influences subsequent sleep characteristics, which may in turn influence subsequent memory. Studies in humans indicate that sleep may not only prevent degradation of acquired memories, but even enhance performance without further practice.In a rodent instrumental learning task, individual differences occur in how fast rats learn to associate lever pressing with food reward. Rats habitually sleep between learning sessions, and may differ in this respect.The current study assessed if the instrumental leaning paradigm could serve as a model to study sleep-dependent memory enhancement. Male Wistar rats performed 2 sessions of instrumental learning per day for 1–3days. Electroencephalography was recorded both before and after the sessions. Sleep deprivation (3h) was applied between the first and second session in a subgroup of rats. Measurements comprised the number of lever presses in each session, slow wave sleep (SWS) duration, Rapid Eye Movement Sleep (REMS) duration and sleep spindles.Baseline sleep parameters were similar for fast and slow learning rats. Task-exposure increased REMS-duration. The increase in REMS-duration was observed specifically after sessions in which learning occurred, but not after a later session. Sleep deprivation during the 3h period between the initial two sessions interfered with performance enhancement, but did not prevent this in all rats. Our considered movement control protocol induced partial sleep deprivation and also interfered with performance enhancement.The classic instrumental learning task provides a practical model for animal studies on sleep-dependent memory enhancement.

Not all risk taking behavior is bad: Associative sensitivity predicts learning during risk taking among high sensation seekers

Risk taking behavior can be both adaptive and maladaptive depending on context. The majority of studies on risk taking, however, focus on clinical populations and dangerous or harmful risk taking. Individual differences in learning during risk taking are rarely examined in relation to task performance. The present study examined risk taking and associated outcomes in an exploration-based instrumental learning task (Balloon Emotional Learning Task; BELT), which presented a series of balloons in which participants pump up for points. Consistent with prior work, sensation seeking predicted increased risk taking behavior. Importantly, however, a significant interaction between sensation seeking and associative sensitivity, an attentional construct defined as the frequency and remoteness of automatic cognitive activity, was found. Specifically, among individuals high in sensation seeking, associative sensitivity predicted fewer balloon explosions and an increase in points earned on the balloon condition with the most potential for feedback driven learning. Thus, these findings suggest that sensation seekers are a heterogeneous group, and secondary traits such as associative sensitivity moderate risk taking and learning according to context.

The basal ganglia.

Through its connections with widespread cortical areas and with dopaminergic midbrain areas, the basal ganglia are well situated to integrate patterns of cortical input with the dopaminergic reward signal originating in the midbrain. In this review, we consider the functions of the basal ganglia in relation to its gross and cellular anatomy, and discuss how these mechanisms subserve the thresholding and selection of motor and cognitive processes. We also discuss how the dopaminergic reward signal enables flexible task learning through modulation of striatal plasticity, and how reinforcement learning models have been used to account for various aspects of basal ganglia activity. Specifically, we will discuss the important role of the basal ganglia in instrumental learning, cognitive control, sequence learning, and categorization tasks. Finally, we will discuss the neurobiological and cognitive characteristics of Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and addiction to illustrate the relationship between the basal ganglia and cognitive function. WIREs Cogn Sci 2013, 4:135-148. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1217 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

Action-Specific Value Signals in Reward-Related Regions of the Human Brain

Estimating the value of potential actions is crucial for learning and adaptive behavior. We know little about how the human brain represents action-specific value outside of motor areas. This is, in part, due to a difficulty in detecting the neural correlates of value using conventional (region of interest) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses, due to a potential distributed representation of value. We address this limitation by applying a recently developed multivariate decoding method to high-resolution fMRI data in subjects performing an instrumental learning task. We found evidence for action-specific value signals in circumscribed regions, specifically ventromedial prefrontal cortex, putamen, thalamus, and insula cortex. In contrast, action-independent value signals were more widely represented across a large set of brain areas. Using multivariate Bayesian model comparison, we formally tested whether value-specific responses are spatially distributed or coherent. We found strong evidence that both action-specific and action-independent value signals are represented in a distributed fashion. Our results suggest that a surprisingly large number of classical reward-related areas contain distributed representations of action-specific values, representations that are likely to mediate between reward and adaptive behavior.

Evaluation of an Aβ1–40-induced cognitive deficit in rat using a reward-directed instrumental learning task

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. It is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that leads to gradual loss of cognitive and functional abilities, and development of behavioral disturbances. Previous studies using Aβ1–40 microinjection in animal models focused on cognitive deficits in spatial learning and avoidance conditioning. However, no attempt has been made to determine the sensitivity of an Aβ1–40-manipulated animal model in tasks involving reward-directed instrumental learning (RDIL). Thus, the present study was designed to investigate the effects of intra hippocampal microinjection of Aβ1–40 on the acquisition and maintenance of a basic instrumental response (lever-pressing), then on the goal directed (higher response ratio) and habit (visual signal discrimination and extinction) learning, as well as on neurotransmitter changes which could potentially alter the regulatory processes involved in instrumental learning. Our present findings demonstrated that the focal hippocampal microinjection of Aβ1–40 rendered rats unable to process new cue/contextual information in the formation of causal relation, rather than affecting the operant action itself. Although the injected Aβ1–40 did not directly influence performance, it did prevent the information from being translated into action. Moreover, the neurotransmitter results indicated that multiple neural signaling might be involved in the regulation of RDIL in the Aβ1–40 injection model. In conclusion, results suggested that our series of instrumental learning tasks may have potential in dementia research as a novel method for testing cognitive behavior.

Glial Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNFα) Generates Metaplastic Inhibition of Spinal Learning

Injury-induced overexpression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) in the spinal cord can induce chronic neuroinflammation and excitotoxicity that ultimately undermines functional recovery. Here we investigate how TNFα might also act to upset spinal function by modulating spinal plasticity. Using a model of instrumental learning in the injured spinal cord, we have previously shown that peripheral intermittent stimulation can produce a plastic change in spinal plasticity (metaplasticity), resulting in the prolonged inhibition of spinal learning. We hypothesized that spinal metaplasticity may be mediated by TNFα. We found that intermittent stimulation increased protein levels in the spinal cord. Using intrathecal pharmacological manipulations, we showed TNFα to be both necessary and sufficient for the long-term inhibition of a spinal instrumental learning task. These effects were found to be dependent on glial production of TNFα and involved downstream alterations in calcium-permeable AMPA receptors. These findings suggest a crucial role for glial TNFα in undermining spinal learning, and demonstrate the therapeutic potential of inhibiting TNFα activity to rescue and restore adaptive spinal plasticity to the injured spinal cord. TNFα modulation represents a novel therapeutic target for improving rehabilitation after spinal cord injury.

A few days of social separation affects yearling horses’ response to emotional reactivity tests and enhances learning performance

Learning performance is influenced by emotional reactivity, low reactivity being generally beneficial. Previous experiments show that emotional reactivity can be modified after a period of social isolation. We hypothesized that eleven days of isolation would affect yearlings' emotional reactivity and improve their learning abilities. Twenty-five yearlings were divided into two groups: 12 were continuously isolated for 11 days (isolated) and 13 stayed together (control). During the period of isolation, all yearlings underwent two learning tasks: a habituation procedure in which a novel object was presented for 120 s every day, either when the horse was alone (isolated) or with conspecifics (control); an instrumental learning task in which the yearling had to walk forwards or backwards to obtain a food reward. At the end of the isolation period, animals performed tests to assess aspects of emotional reactivity: reactivity to novelty, to humans, to social separation, to suddenness and to sensory stimuli. Results showed that isolated yearlings habituated more to the novel object than controls and performed better in the instrumental task. Moreover, they were less reactive to novelty, to social separation and to suddenness than controls. Overall, these data suggest that the better performance of isolated yearlings could be explained by a decrease in their emotional reactivity. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: insert SI title.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Dopamine

v w c i m t w d s m d e l t T here is an odd irony associated with the by-now almost ineluctable tie between reinforcement learning’s temporal difference learning rule (1) and the phasic activity of dopamine eurons (2). Although temporal difference learning was designed o enable the acquisition of whole sequences of actions and predicions, a task that its ancestors (3) would flub, there are very few irect tests of this characteristic. In a penetrating new study, Wasum and colleagues (4) measured and manipulated dopamine in a equence learning task for sucrose reward, revealing four correlates f the neuromodulator: its fineand gross-scale dynamics during earning, its involvement in two aspects of energizing behavior, and ts necessity for learning. The task is straightforward. Rats were placed in an operant hamber in which one (distal) lever was freely available to be ressed at any time. A response on this lever caused a second proximal; mildly pretrained) lever to emerge, and when this was ressed, a sucrose pellet was delivered to a food well and the roximal lever was retracted. Over the course of training, the anials learned to make increasingly efficient sequential responses: istal press, proximal press, and consumption. To determine how dopamine transmission is modulated during he development of this behavior, the authors used fast-scan cyclic oltammetry (FSCV) to measure changes in dopamine concentraion in the ventral striatum. A strength of FSCV is that it allows eliable trial-by-trial monitoring of phasic dopamine transmission n individual animals. Wassum and colleagues used this to their dvantage to demonstrate the dynamic modulation of dopamine s the animals improved their efficiency on the sequence. They sed FSCV in three groups of animals. For one group (labeled day 0), easurements were made on the very first day they were introuced to the sequence task. For the second and third groups, FSCV as performed after moderate (day 5) or extensive (day 10) trainng. Furthermore, in a separate experiment, the authors used the onspecific dopamine antagonist flupenthixol systemically to esablish whether dopamine release was required for the appropriate equence of actions to be learned and performed. Treating this as an instrumental learning task (albeit with some mportant Pavlovian elements, such as the sound of the proximal ever extending or retracting), we might expect phasic dopamine to eport an appetitively signed temporal difference prediction error. t least to a first approximation, this would imply that early in earning, dopamine release would increase to the unexpected reard following the proximal press; but late in learning this release ould be absent because the reward would have been well preicted and so inspire no prediction error. Nonetheless, even at the nd of training, unexpected, unearned rewards should still lead to opamine release. This is exactly what was observed and is an mportant novel finding because past FSCV studies of free operant nstrumental conditioning have used cocaine as a reward (5). The

Mechanisms of Contextual Control when Contexts are Informative to Solve the Task

An experiment was conducted using a human instrumental learning task with the goal of evaluating the mechanisms underlying the deleterious effect of context-switching on responding to an unambiguous stimulus when contexts are informative to solve the task. Participants were trained in a context-based reversal discrimination in which two discriminative stimuli (X and Y) interchange their meaning across contexts A and B. In context A, discriminative stimulus Z consistently announced that the relationship between a specific instrumental response (RI) and a specific outcome (O1) was in effect. Performance in the presence of stimulus Z was equally deteriorated when the test was conducted outside the training context, regardless of whether the test context was familiar (context B) or new (context C). This result is consistent with the idea that participants code all the information presented in an informative context as context-specific with the context playing a role akin to an occasion setter.

Evaluating psychological markers for human nicotine dependence: Tobacco choice, extinction, and Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer.

Individual differences in drug dependence may be mediated by several abnormalities in associative learning, including perseveration of drug-seeking following contingency change, greater control over drug-seeking by Pavlovian stimuli, or greater sensitivity to drug reinforcement establishing higher rates of drug-seeking. To evaluate these three candidate markers for nicotine dependence, Experiment 1 contrasted daily (N = 22) and nondaily smoker groups (N = 22) on a novel instrumental learning task, where one S+ was first trained as a predictor of tobacco reward before being extinguished. Experiment 2 compared daily (N = 18) and nondaily smoker groups (N = 18) on a concurrent-choice task for tobacco and chocolate reward before an extinction test in which the tobacco response was extinguished, followed by a Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer test, wherein the impact of tobacco and chocolate cues on concurrent choice was measured (gender was balanced within each smoker group). The results showed no group difference in sensitivity to extinction of either the stimulus-drug or response-drug contingency in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively, nor did groups show a difference in Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer of control over tobacco choice. By contrast, nicotine-dependence status was marked by a higher frequency of tobacco choice in the concurrent-choice procedure, and this choice preference was associated with subjective craving (gender did not affect any behavioral measure). These results favor the view that nicotine dependence in this sample is not determined by individual predilection for perseveration or stimulus-control over drug-seeking, but by greater sensitivity to reinforcement of instrumental drug choice. Value-based decision theories of dependence are discussed.

Impaired Learning of Social Compared to Monetary Rewards in Autism

A leading hypothesis to explain the social dysfunction in people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is that they exhibit a deficit in reward processing and motivation specific to social stimuli. However, there have been few direct tests of this hypothesis to date. Here we used an instrumental reward learning task that contrasted learning with social rewards (pictures of positive and negative faces) against learning with monetary reward (winning and losing money). The two tasks were structurally identical except for the type of reward, permitting direct comparisons. We tested 10 high-functioning people with ASD (7M, 3F) and 10 healthy controls who were matched on gender, age, and education. We found no significant differences between the two groups in terms of overall ability behaviorally to discriminate positive from negative slot machines, reaction-times, and valence ratings, However, there was a specific impairment in the ASD group in learning to choose social rewards, compared to monetary rewards: they had a significantly lower cumulative number of choices of the most rewarding social slot machine, and had a significantly slower initial learning rate for the socially rewarding slot machine, compared to the controls. The findings show a deficit in reward learning in ASD that is greater for social rewards than for monetary rewards, and support the hypothesis of a disproportionate impairment in social reward processing in ASD.

Regulation of Fear Memory by Glucocorticoid and Cholinergic Receptors within the Dorsal Striatum

GENERAL COMMENTARY article Front. Behav. Neurosci., 19 July 2012Sec. Learning and Memory Volume 6 - 2012 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2012.00042

Reinforcement Learning and Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) is a hyperkinetic movement disorder with heterogeneous phenotypic expression ranging from simple motor and vocal tics to more complex tics associated with psychiatric comorbidities. The heterogeneity of clinical phenotypes may relate to the dysfunction of distinct frontal cortex-basal ganglia circuits. To assess the hypothesis that simple motor tics and comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorders are associated with dysfunction of motor and reward circuits, respectively, and to assess the effects of various antipsychotic medications because they are known to reduce motor tics and interact with dopamine-related reward processing. Sixty patients with GTS were divided into different subgroups depending on their clinical phenotypes and pharmacological treatments. The GTS patients and healthy control subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging while they performed an instrumental learning task that involved adjusting choices between 2 responses (left- or right-hand movements) based on outcomes (reward or no reward). Reference center for GTS, Centre de NeuroImagerie de recherche (CENIR) Paris, France. Patients Sixty GTS patients and 50 controls. Movement-related activation in motor circuits was diminished in GTS patients with simple tics only. Reward-related activation in limbic circuits was independently reduced by the following 2 factors: the presence of associated obsessive-compulsive symptoms (mostly compulsions) and the presence of medication with typical antipsychotics (dopamine receptor antagonists). Computational modeling with standard reinforcement learning algorithms indicated that, for both factors, the diminished reward-related activation could account for the impaired choice performance. Reinforcement learning was not affected by aripiprazole, a recent medication that acts as a partial dopamine agonist. These results support the hypothesized correspondence between clinical phenotypes and frontal cortex-basal ganglia circuits. Antipsychotic treatment effects comply with formal conceptions that dopamine serves as a teaching signal for reinforcement learning. Furthermore, we suggest that, unlike typical antipsychotics, aripiprazole may preserve reward sensitivity and hence avoid blunting motivational drives.

Functional specialization within the striatum along both the dorsal/ventral and anterior/posterior axes during associative learning via reward and punishment

The goal of the present study was to elucidate the role of the human striatum in learning via reward and punishment during an associative learning task. Previous studies have identified the striatum as a critical component in the neural circuitry of reward-related learning. It remains unclear, however, under what task conditions, and to what extent, the striatum is modulated by punishment during an instrumental learning task. Using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a reward- and punishment-based probabilistic associative learning task, we observed activity in the ventral putamen for stimuli learned via reward regardless of whether participants were correct or incorrect (i.e., outcome). In contrast, activity in the dorsal caudate was modulated by trials that received feedback--either correct reward or incorrect punishment trials. We also identified an anterior/posterior dissociation reflecting reward and punishment prediction error estimates. Additionally, differences in patterns of activity that correlated with the amount of training were identified along the anterior/posterior axis of the striatum. We suggest that unique subregions of the striatum--separated along both a dorsal/ventral and anterior/posterior axis--differentially participate in the learning of associations through reward and punishment.

EEG oscillatory activity associated to monetary gain and loss signals in a learning task: Effects of attentional impulsivity and learning ability

This study investigated the influence of individual differences in attentional impulsivity (Att-Imp), learning ability, and learning practice on oscillatory activity and phase synchrony responses to monetary gain and loss signals during an instrumental-learning task in healthy women. We used a trial-by-trial wavelet-based time-frequency analysis of the electroencephalographic (EEG) signal to provide amplitude and inter-site phase synchrony measures from 30 electrodes in theta (4–8Hz, 350–500ms), alpha (8–12Hz, 100–200ms), beta (13–25Hz, 100–200ms), and gamma (30–40Hz, 350–450ms) time-frequency ranges. Oscillatory amplitude and inter-site phase synchrony were both greater following loss signals as compared to gain signals in theta, beta, and gamma frequency bands. Low Att-Imp subjects had higher theta activity within a 350–500ms time window over frontocentral, and centroparietal sites than high Att-Imp subjects. Monetary gain signals elicited higher theta and gamma activities in high Att-Imp individuals and loss signals elicited higher activities to loss signals in low Att-Imp individuals. Good learners showed enhanced intrahemispheric theta synchrony between frontoparietal, and fronto-occipital sites to monetary loss compared to gain signals. In good learners, monetary loss produced an increase of gamma synchrony that enhanced in the second stage of learning. In low Att-Imp individuals, there was a reduction of theta synchrony during the second stage, as compared with the first stage of learning, between temporal, parietal and fronto-parietal brain regions. These findings may offer valuable clues to understand outcome processing, attentional impulsivity, and learning ability. We propose that the punishment-related theta and gamma waves play a leading role in learning process.

The 5‐HT7 receptor in learning and memory

The 5-HT(7) receptor is a more recently discovered G-protein-coupled receptor for serotonin. The functions and possible clinical relevance of this receptor are not yet fully understood. The present paper reviews to what extent the use of animal models of learning and memory and other techniques have implicated the 5-HT(7) receptor in such processes. The studies have used a combination of pharmacological and genetic tools targeting the receptor to evaluate effects on behavior and cellular mechanisms. In tests such as the Barnes maze, contextual fear conditioning and novel location recognition that involve spatial learning and memory there is a considerable amount of evidence supporting an involvement of the 5-HT(7) receptor. Supporting evidence has also been obtained in studies of mRNA expression and cellular signaling as well as in electrophysiological experiments. Especially interesting are the subtle but distinct effects observed in hippocampus-dependent models of place learning where impairments have been described in mice lacking the 5-HT(7) receptor or after administration of a selective antagonist. While more work is required, it appears that 5-HT(7) receptors are particularly important in allocentric representation processes. In instrumental learning tasks both procognitive effects and impairments in memory have been observed using pharmacological tools targeting the 5-HT(7) receptor. In conclusion, the use of pharmacological and genetic tools in animal studies of learning and memory suggest a potentially important role for the 5-HT(7) receptor in cognitive processes.

Housing conditions and breed are associated with emotionality and cognitive abilities in riding school horses

Horses’ emotional reactivity is of a major importance in riding schools where a variety of more or less experienced riders are present. Horses’ learning abilities may also be important for work. Previous studies have shown that different intrinsic or extrinsic factors, such as breed, housing conditions, sire, and work may have an influence, and that different facilities present horses with different characteristics. In this study, we tested the reactions of 184 horses from 22 riding schools, all practicing the same type of work, but differing in particular in terms of housing conditions, to 3 emotionality tests and to one instrumental learning task, in order to (1) try and characterize riding schools, and (2) determine how general management could explain some of the potential differences observed between sites. Multivariate analysis conducted on the whole set of data showed that riding schools could be classified into four categories from those where horses showed low emotionality levels and good learning abilities to those where horses showed high emotionality levels and poor learning abilities. Breed, in accordance to previous studies, had an impact on the time to cross a novel obstacle in hand (“Bridge Test”) (Kruskall–Wallis, H (14, N = 184) = 27.08, p < 0.05) while housing conditions (e.g. box housing) influenced emotionality (emotionality index, MW: p < 0.05), when horses were released in the arena. Box housing was associated with more active locomotion patterns (including trot, canter and passage) (MW: p < 0.005). These results underline the importance for riding schools to take into account both the individual characteristics of the horse, and in particular the breed, and to consider the impact of general management including housing conditions, on horses’ reactivity, and its consequences in terms of human security.

EEG and coherence responses to monetary gain and loss during a memory task: Effects of attentional impulsivity and learning ability

This study investigated electrophysiological (EEG) measures as a function of individual differences in facets of impulsivity, learning ability, and learning practice during an instrumental learning task. Data analysis (48 women participants) was based on EEG activity within 1-s epoch following visual feedback signals of monetary gain and loss. The EEG spectral power and coherence measures were derived from 30 scalp sites for delta (0.5–3.5 Hz), theta (3.5–7 Hz), lower alpha (7–9.5 Hz), upper alpha (10–12.5 Hz), beta (15–20 Hz), and gammabands (36–44 Hz). High attentional, impulsive individuals displayed a greater error rate than low attentional impulsives. Monetary loss produced greater spectral power than monetary gain for the theta band over frontal scalp sites, while a greater upper alpha power was found for monetary gain across centroparieto-occipital sites. Learning taskpracticewasassociatedwith increased lower alphapowerover centro-parietal sites, increasedupper alphapower over parietal sites, and reduced gamma power over left temporal sites. Good learners as compared to bad learners had (1) enhanced theta on centro-parietal sites and reducedon frontal sites, (2) enhancedbetapower on temporal sites and reduced on parieto-occipital sites, (3) enhanced gamma power on fronto-temporal sites for both monetary loss and gain signals. Good learner/low attentional impulsivity participants, for both monetary loss and gain signals, had a greater gamma power on temporal sites as compared to bad learner/high and low attentional impulsivity groups. The enhanced error rate and the reduced gamma power found in high attentional impulsive subjects are consistent with a number of previous studies indicating frontal lobe dysfunction in association with impulsive behavior and may indicate that impulsive individuals make more effort in activating temporal regions for memory updating. Across theta, upper alpha and gamma frequencybands, good learners had greater fronto-parietal coherences than bad learners, andmonetary loss displayed greater coherences than monetary gain. This indicates a leading role of a fronto-parietal network in outcome processing for memory consolidation and learning. Finally, good learner/high attentional impulsivity subjects, as compared to the other groups, had the highest enhancement of theta, upper alpha, and gamma coherences at far distant cortical regions for monetary loss. This finding outlines the importance of punishment signals in the learning process and suggests that individual differences in attentional impulsivity play an important role in learning ability.