Severe Sexual Abuse Reduces Frontoparietal Network Activity during Model-Based Reinforcement Learning Updates

Resumen

Trauma and trauma-related disorders are characterized by altered learning styles. Two learning processes that have been delineated using computational modeling are model-free and model-based reinforcement learning (RL), characterized by trial and error and goal-driven, rule-based learning, respectively. Prior research suggests that model-free RL is disrupted among individuals with a history of assaultive trauma and may contribute to altered fear responding. Currently, it is unclear whether model-based RL, which involves building abstract and nuanced representations of stimulus-outcome relationships to prospectively predict action-related outcomes, is also impaired among individuals who have experienced trauma. The present study sought to test the hypothesis of impaired model-based RL among adolescent females exposed to assaultive trauma. Participants (n=60) completed a three-arm bandit RL task during fMRI acquisition. Two computational models compared the degree to which each participant’s task behavior fit the use of a model-free versus model-based RL strategy. Overall, a greater portion of participants’ behavior was better captured by the model-based than model-free RL model. Although assaultive trauma did not predict learning strategy use, greater sexual abuse severity predicted less use of model-based compared to model-free RL. Additionally, severe sexual abuse predicted less left frontoparietal network encoding of model-based RL updates, which was not accounted for by PTSD. Given the significant impact that sexual trauma has on mental health and other aspects of functioning, it is plausible that altered model-based RL is an important route through which clinical impairment emerges.

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Cómo citar (APA 7)

Letkiewicz, A. M., Cochran, A. L., & Cisler, J. M. (2019). Severe Sexual Abuse Reduces Frontoparietal Network Activity during Model-Based Reinforcement Learning Updates. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/fqv2s