RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Asymmetric effects of acute stress on cost and benefit learning
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.04.25.441347
DO 10.1101/2021.04.25.441347
A1 Stella Voulgaropoulou
A1 Fasya Fauzani
A1 Janine Pfirrmann
A1 Claudia Vingerhoets
A1 Thérèse van Amelsvoort
A1 Dennis Hernaus
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/04/27/2021.04.25.441347.abstract
AB Stressful events trigger a complex physiological reaction – the fight-or-flight response – that can hamper flexible decision-making. Inspired by key neural and peripheral characteristics of the fight-or-flight response, here we ask whether acute stress changes how humans learn about costs and benefits. Participants were randomly exposed to an acute stress or no-stress control condition after which they completed a cost-benefit reinforcement learning task. Acute stress improved learning to maximize benefits (monetary rewards) relative to minimising energy expenditure (grip force). Using computational modelling, we demonstrate that costs and benefits can exert asymmetric effects on decisions when prediction errors that convey information about the reward value and cost of actions receive inappropriate importance; a process associated with distinct alterations in pupil size fluctuations. These results provide new insights into learning strategies under acute stress – which, depending on the context, may be maladaptive or beneficial - and candidate neuromodulatory mechanisms that could underlie such behaviour.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.