Periodic Reporting for period 4 - ChangeBehavNeuro (Novel Mechanism of Behavioural Change)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-07-01 al 2022-12-31
Understanding how values of different options that lead to choice are represented in the brain is a basic scientific question with far reaching implications. The far-reaching goal of this project was to study the mechanism, by which low-level sensory, perceptual and motor neural processes underlie value representation and change in the human brain even in the absence of external reinforcement. Multiple disorders can benefit from behavioural change such as addictions, mental and food disorders. Current methods of behavioural change rely on self-control or external reinforcement. Here, we explored the behavioral boundaries and neural basis of a novel mechanism of behavioral change that does not rely on external feedback or self-control. We studied the behavioral and neural differences between reinforced and non-reinforced change and how memory is related to value-based decision-making. We showed how low-level features influence the neural representation of value. We tested the interaction with the known striatal representation of reinforced behavioural change, which has been the main focus of research thus far. Finally, the project culminated in an opinion paper of a novel non-reinforced pathway in the brain that will influence development of future interventions for mental disorders and addictions.
We investigated the generalizability and boundaries of the novel non-reinforced behavioral change effect and reveled that this novel mechanism of behavioral change relies on changes in visual sensory mechanisms. We further developed a new behavioural task to change behavior with reinforcement as well study the neural basis of reinforced habits in humans.
We have published 9 manuscrips. We expect additional 1-2 papers to be published in the coming years.