Home > Publications database > Intranasal oxytocin attenuates the effects of monetary feedback on procedural learning |
Journal Article | FZJ-2022-03206 |
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2022
Elsevier Science
Amsterdam [u.a.]
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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/33049 doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105823
Abstract: Procedural learning is a vital brain function that allows us to acquire motor skills during development or re-learnthem after lesions affecting the motor system. Procedural learning can be improved by feedback of differentvalence, e.g., monetary or social, mediated by dopaminergic circuits. While processing motivationally relevantstimuli, dopamine interacts closely with oxytocin, whose effects on procedural learning, particularly feedbackbasedapproaches, remain poorly understood. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, weinvestigated whether oxytocin modulates the differential effects of monetary and social feedback on procedurallearning. Sixty-one healthy male participants were randomized to receive a placebo or oxytocin intranasally. Theparticipants then performed a modified serial reaction time task. Oxytocin plasma concentrations were measuredbefore and after applying the placebo or verum. Groups did not differ regarding general reaction times ormeasures of procedural learning. For the placebo group, monetary feedback improved procedural learningcompared to a neutral control condition. In contrast, the oxytocin group did not show a differential effect ofmonetary or social feedback despite a significant increase in oxytocin plasma levels after intranasal application.The data suggest that oxytocin does not influence procedural learning per se. Instead, oxytocin seems toattenuate the effects of monetary feedback on procedural learning specifically.
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