title: Ventral striatal prediction error signaling is associated with dopamine synthesis capacity and fluid intelligence.
abstract: Fluid intelligence represents the capacity for flexible problem solving and rapid behavioral adaptation. Rewards drive flexible behavioral adaptation, in part via a teaching signal expressed as reward prediction errors in the ventral striatum, which has been associated with phasic dopamine release in animal studies. We examined a sample of 28 healthy male adults using multimodal imaging and biological parametric mapping with (1) functional magnetic resonance imaging during a reversal learning task and (2) in a subsample of 17 subjects also with positron emission tomography using 6-[(18) F]fluoro-L-DOPA to assess dopamine synthesis capacity. Fluid intelligence was measured using a battery of nine standard neuropsychological tests. Ventral striatal BOLD correlates of reward prediction errors were positively correlated with fluid intelligence and, in the right ventral striatum, also inversely correlated with dopamine synthesis capacity (FDOPA K inapp). When exploring aspects of fluid intelligence, we observed that prediction error signaling correlates with complex attention and reasoning. These findings indicate that individual differences in the capacity for flexible problem solving relate to ventral striatal activation during reward-related learning, which in turn proved to be inversely associated with ventral striatal dopamine synthesis capacity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Charité Mitte, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schlagenhauf
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rapp
authors.forename: Quentin J M
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Huys
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wüstenberg
authors.forename: Lorenz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deserno
authors.forename: Hans-Georg
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Buchholz
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kalbitzer
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buchert
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kienast
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cumming
authors.forename: Michail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Plotkin
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kumakura
authors.forename: Anthony A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Grace
authors.forename: Raymond J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Dolan
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heinz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D004298:Dopamine / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine