title: Neural signals encoding shifts in beliefs.
abstract: Dopamine is implicated in a diverse range of cognitive functions including cognitive flexibility, task switching, signalling novel or unexpected stimuli as well as advance information. There is also longstanding line of thought that links dopamine with belief formation and, crucially, aberrant belief formation in psychosis. Integrating these strands of evidence would suggest that dopamine plays a central role in belief updating and more specifically in encoding of meaningful information content in observations. The precise nature of this relationship has remained unclear. To directly address this question we developed a paradigm that allowed us to decompose two distinct types of information content, information-theoretic surprise that reflects the unexpectedness of an observation, and epistemic value that induces shifts in beliefs or, more formally, Bayesian surprise. Using functional magnetic-resonance imaging in humans we show that dopamine-rich midbrain regions encode shifts in beliefs whereas surprise is encoded in prefrontal regions, including the pre-supplementary motor area and dorsal cingulate cortex. By linking putative dopaminergic activity to belief updating these data provide a link to false belief formation that characterises hyperdopaminergic states associated with idiopathic and drug induced psychosis.
authors.affiliation: The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK; Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Salzburg, Salzburg 5020, Austria; Neuroscience Institute, Christian-Doppler-Klinik, Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg, Salzburg 5020, Austria; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK. Electronic address: philipp.schwartenbeck.@stud.sbg.ac.at.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schwartenbeck
authors.affiliation: The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK.
authors.forename: Thomas H B
authors.initials: THB
authors.lastname: FitzGerald
authors.affiliation: The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London WC1B 5EH, UK.
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dolan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D003463:Cues; D003469:Culture; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004298:Dopamine
keywords: Belief formation; Dopamine; Epistemic value; Information theory; Psychosis