title: Evidence for model-based computations in the human amygdala during Pavlovian conditioning.
abstract: Contemporary computational accounts of instrumental conditioning have emphasized a role for a model-based system in which values are computed with reference to a rich model of the structure of the world, and a model-free system in which values are updated without encoding such structure. Much less studied is the possibility of a similar distinction operating at the level of Pavlovian conditioning. In the present study, we scanned human participants while they participated in a Pavlovian conditioning task with a simple structure while measuring activity in the human amygdala using a high-resolution fMRI protocol. After fitting a model-based algorithm and a variety of model-free algorithms to the fMRI data, we found evidence for the superiority of a model-based algorithm in accounting for activity in the amygdala compared to the model-free counterparts. These findings support an important role for model-based algorithms in describing the processes underpinning Pavlovian conditioning, as well as providing evidence of a role for the human amygdala in model-based inference.
authors: Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology, Dublin, Ireland.
authors: Charlotte
authors: C
authors: Prévost
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: McNamee
authors: Ryan K
authors: RK
authors: Jessup
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Bossaerts
authors: John P
authors: JP
authors: O'Doherty
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology; D003214:Conditioning, Classical / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D011680:Pupil / Q000502:physiology; D056152:Respiratory Rate / Q000502:physiology; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted