Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Alterations in the amplitude and burst distribution of sensorimotor beta oscillations impair reward-dependent motor learning in anxiety

Sebastian Sporn, Thomas P. Hein, María Herrojo Ruiz
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/442772
Sebastian Sporn
School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UKDepartment of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, London, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Thomas P. Hein
Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, London, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
María Herrojo Ruiz
Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, London, UKCenter for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: M.Herrojo-Ruiz@gold.ac.uk
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Anxiety results in sub-optimal motor performance and learning; yet, the precise mechanisms through which these modifications occur remain unknown. Using a reward-based motor sequence learning paradigm, we show that concurrent and prior anxiety states impair learning by biasing estimates about the hidden performance goal and the stability of such estimates over time (volatility). In an electroencephalography study, three groups of participants completed our motor task, which had separate phases for motor exploration (baseline) and reward-based learning. Anxiety was manipulated either during the initial baseline exploration phase or while learning. We show that anxiety induced at baseline reduced motor variability, undermining subsequent reward-based learning. Mechanistically, however, the most direct consequence of state anxiety was an underestimation of the hidden performance goal and a higher tendency to believe that the goal was unstable over time. Further, anxiety decreased uncertainty about volatility, which attenuated the update of beliefs about this quantity. Changes in the amplitude and burst distribution of sensorimotor and prefrontal beta oscillations were observed at baseline, which were primarily explained by the anxiety induction. These changes extended to the subsequent learning phase, where phasic increases in beta power and in the rate of long (> 500 ms) oscillation bursts following reward feedback were linked to smaller updates in predictions about volatility, with a higher anxiety-related increase explaining the biased volatility estimates. These data suggest that state anxiety alters the dynamics of beta oscillations during general performance, yet more prominently during reward processing, thereby impairing proper updating of motor predictions when learning in unstable environments.

Footnotes

  • Computational Model of reward-based learning has been implemented

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted July 18, 2019.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Alterations in the amplitude and burst distribution of sensorimotor beta oscillations impair reward-dependent motor learning in anxiety
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
Share
Alterations in the amplitude and burst distribution of sensorimotor beta oscillations impair reward-dependent motor learning in anxiety
Sebastian Sporn, Thomas P. Hein, María Herrojo Ruiz
bioRxiv 442772; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/442772
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Alterations in the amplitude and burst distribution of sensorimotor beta oscillations impair reward-dependent motor learning in anxiety
Sebastian Sporn, Thomas P. Hein, María Herrojo Ruiz
bioRxiv 442772; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/442772

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (1545)
  • Biochemistry (2500)
  • Bioengineering (1757)
  • Bioinformatics (9729)
  • Biophysics (3929)
  • Cancer Biology (2990)
  • Cell Biology (4235)
  • Clinical Trials (135)
  • Developmental Biology (2653)
  • Ecology (4129)
  • Epidemiology (2033)
  • Evolutionary Biology (6933)
  • Genetics (5243)
  • Genomics (6532)
  • Immunology (2208)
  • Microbiology (7012)
  • Molecular Biology (2784)
  • Neuroscience (17412)
  • Paleontology (127)
  • Pathology (432)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (712)
  • Physiology (1068)
  • Plant Biology (2516)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (647)
  • Synthetic Biology (835)
  • Systems Biology (2699)
  • Zoology (439)