Performance Feedback Drives Caudate Activation in a Phonological Learning Task

Abstract

Adults have difficulty discriminating nonnative phonetic contrasts, but under certain circumstances training can lead to improvement in this ability. Despite the ubiquitous use of performance feedback in training paradigms in this and many other domains, the mechanisms by which feedback affects learning are not well understood. In this event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we examined how performance feedback is processed during perceptual learning. Thirteen Japanese speakers for whom the English phonemes [r] and [l] were nondistinct performed an identification task of the words "road" and "load" that has been shown to be effective in inducing learning only when performance feedback is present. Each subject performed alternating runs of training with and without feedback, followed by performance of a card-guessing task with monetary reward and punishment outcomes. We found that the caudate nucleus was more robustly activated bilaterally when performing the perceptual identification task with feedback than without feedback, and the right caudate nucleus also showed a differential response to positive and negative feedback. Moreover, using a within-subjects design, we found that the caudate nucleus also showed a similar activation pattern to monetary reward and punishment outcomes in the card-guessing task. These results demonstrate that the caudate responds to positive and negative feedback during learning in a manner analogous to its processing of extrinsic affective reinforcers and indicate that this region may be a critical moderator of the influence of feedback on learning. These findings impact our broader understanding of the mechanisms underlying nondeclarative learning and language acquisition.

Neural basis of the undermining effect of monetary reward on intrinsic motivation

“…This result indicates that the success feedback in the experimental task we developed involves reward network activation, regardless of whether the feedback was accompanied with monetary reward. This is consistent with previous work (21,23,25,26) and supports the validity of our experimental task for examining brain activation in response to task feedback.…”

“…Previous studies have implied that the striatum functions as a hub of the human valuation process, by converting and integrating different types of reward values onto a common scale (11). Our result can be interpreted by this view such that the significant positive activation in the control group reflects the intrinsic value of achieving success (23,25) and this activation was elevated by the additional performance-based monetary reward in the reward group. Importantly, whereas this activity during the second session was sustained in the control group (one-sample t 13 = 7.33, P < 0.01; no between-session change was observed, P = 0.41), there was a dramatic decrease in activation of the bilateral anterior striatum in the reward group, and the activation was no longer significant (one-sample t 13 = 0.41, P = 0.69; decrease in the activity from the first to the second session was significant, paired t 13 = 7.35, P < 0.01).…”

“…Our findings clearly indicate that value-driven and cognitive processes are involved in the undermining effect, and they are linked. Notably, activation in the anterior part of the striatum, which has been implicated in subjective belief in determining outcomes (23,25), corresponds particularly well to the pattern observed in the behavioral undermining effect. This lends support for the recent psychological theory that the undermining effect is closely linked to a decreased sense of selfdetermination (3)(4)(5).…”

“…Many neuroscience studies have revealed that a dopaminergic reward network plays a pivotal role in representing and updating various types of subjective valuation (10)(11)(12)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24). In particular, recent studies have suggested that activation in response to feedback in the anterior part of the striatum (caudate head) is modulated by one's subjective belief in determining the outcome (23,25), which is considered a key psychological factor in the undermining effect (3)(4)(5). Previous studies have also suggested that the midbrain, which has a strong anatomical connection with the anterior striatum (19), is responsive to both monetary reward feedback and cognitive feedback (feedback without monetary reward)-feedbacks that are related to the undermining effect (26,27).…”

Bilingualism at the core of the brain. Structural differences between bilinguals and monolinguals revealed by subcortical shape analysis

“…The basal ganglia have received increased attention regarding their functional role in a wide array of languagerelated processes, such as speech production (Binder et al 2005;Bohland and Guenther 2006;Kuljic-Obradovic 2003;Riecker et al 2002;Rosen et al 2000;Sakurai et al 1993), rule learning (De Diego-Balaguer et al 2008), and phonological processing (Tettamanti et al 2005;Tricomi et al 2006;Watkins et al 2002), among others. The basal ganglia are an important component of the procedural memory system, which underlies the extraction and computation of language regularities and rules (e.g., mental grammar) (Ullman, 2004).…”