Spontaneous eye blink rate predicts learning from negative, but not positive, outcomes

Slagter, Heleen A.; Georgopoulou, Katerina; Frank, Michael J.

doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.03.028

Cited by 66 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…in Kaminer, Powers, Horn, Hui, & Evinger, 2011; 15,2 p/min. in Slagter, Georgopoulou, & Frank, 2015). It has been demonstrated that sEBR is significantly affected by the time of day, and rises after 5pm.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Effects of meditation practice on spontaneous eyeblink rate

et al. 2016

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A rapidly growing body of research suggests that meditation can change brain and cognitive functioning. Yet little is known about the neurochemical mechanisms underlying meditation-related changes in cognition. Here we investigated the effects of meditation on spontaneous Eye Blink Rates (sEBR), a non-invasive peripheral correlate of striatal dopamine activity. Previous studies have shown a relationship between sEBR and cognitive functions such as mind-wandering, cognitive flexibility, and attention–functions that are also affected by meditation. We therefore expected that long-term meditation practice would alter eye-blink activity. To test this, we recorded baseline sEBR and Inter Eye-Blink Intervals (IEBI) in long-term meditators (LTM) and meditation naive participants (MNP). We found that LTM not only blinked less frequently, but also showed a different eye-blink pattern than MNP. This pattern had good to high degree of consistency over three time points. Moreover, we examined the effects of an 8 week-course of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on sEBR and IEBI, compared to an active control group and a waitlist-control group. No effect of short-term meditation practice was found. Finally, we investigated whether different types of meditation differentially alter eye blink activity by measuring sEBR and IEBI after a full day of two kinds of meditation practices in the LTM. No effect of meditation type was found. Taken together, these findings may suggest either that individual difference in dopaminergic neurotransmission is a self-selection factor for meditation practice, or that long-term, but not short-term meditation practice induces stable changes in baseline striatal dopaminergic functioning.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Effects of meditation practice on spontaneous eyeblink rate

et al. 2016

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“…They also found that D 2 receptor density predicted learning from positive feedback during reversal learning. Behavioral evidence with humans supports the role of EBR as an indicator of D 2 receptor availability (Slagter, Georgopoulou, & Frank, 2015). However, in this study, which examined the effect of spontaneous EBR on a probabilistic reinforcement learning task, EBR predicted learning from negative outcomes.…”

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confidence: 91%

“…Although previous research proposed that eyeblink rate is an indicator of striatal dopamine levels (Karson, 1983; Taylor et al, 1999), extensive pharmacological and behavioral work in both monkeys and humans has implicated the role of EBR as an indicator of dopamine D 1 and D 2 receptor availability, specifically, in the striatum (Elsworth et al, 1999; Groman et al, 2014; Jutkiewicz & Bergman, 2004; Kaminer et al, 2011; Kleven & Koek, 1996; Slagter et al, 2015). While there is evidence for the contribution of both D 1 and D 2 receptors, a recent pharmacological PET study compared the effects of D 1 and D 2 receptor agonists on spontaneous EBR in male vervet monkeys (Groman et al, 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

Dopamine, depressive symptoms, and decision-making: the relationship between spontaneous eye blink rate and depressive symptoms predicts Iowa Gambling Task performance

Byrne

Norris

Worthy

2015

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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Depressive symptomatology has been associated with alterations in decision-making, although conclusions have been mixed with depressed individuals showing impairments in some contexts, but advantages in others. The dopaminergic system may link depressive symptoms with decision-making performance. We assessed the role of striatal dopamine D2 receptor density, using spontaneous eyeblink rate, in moderating the relationship between depressive symptoms and decision-making performance in a large undergraduate sample that had not been screened for mental illness (N=104). Regression results revealed that eyeblink rate moderated the relationship between depressive symptoms and advantageous decisions on the IGT in which individuals with more depressive symptomatology and high blink rates (higher striatal dopamine D2 receptor density) performed better on the task. Computational modeling results demonstrated that depressive symptoms alone were associated with enhanced loss aversive behavior, while individuals with high blink rates and elevated depressive symptoms tended to persevere in selecting options that led to net gains (avoiding options with net losses). These findings suggest that variation in striatal dopamine D2 receptor availability in individuals with depressive symptoms may contribute to differences in decision-making behavior.

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“…In contrast to reflexive EB, spontaneous blinks do not require sensory inputs. It appears that their underlying mechanism is an internal blink generator (Kaminer et al 2011), dopamine-mediated to some extent (Colzato et al 2008;Ladas et al 2014;Slagter et al 2015). Indeed, the spontaneous EB rate in some dopamine-related psychiatric conditions (e.g., Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia) was found to vary when compared to that of the general population (Karson et al 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Without Blinking an Eye: Proactive Motor Control Enhancement

Yaniv

Lavidor

2017

J Cogn Enhanc

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While most cognitive control enhancement studies have focused on reactive inhibition paradigms, enhancement of proactive control of urge-driven behaviors has been relatively neglected. With the aim of focusing on the proactive components of cognitive control over motor output, we designed a simple, ecologically valid eye blinking suppression task and applied transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG). Fifty-three subjects randomly allocated to three different stimulation groups underwent active or sham stimulation, subsequently performing eye blinking and stop signal tasks. Results showed that anodal stimulation over the rIFG increased the ability to suppress blinks compared to sham and active control stimulation. In addition, the rIFG group demonstrated a general slowdown of the stop signal reaction time, implying proactive control enhancement. Herein, we discuss our results with regard to previous findings as well as possible interventions in clinical populations.

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Spontaneous eye blink rate predicts learning from negative, but not positive, outcomes

Cited by 66 publications

References 51 publications

Effects of meditation practice on spontaneous eyeblink rate

Effects of meditation practice on spontaneous eyeblink rate

Dopamine, depressive symptoms, and decision-making: the relationship between spontaneous eye blink rate and depressive symptoms predicts Iowa Gambling Task performance

Without Blinking an Eye: Proactive Motor Control Enhancement

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