Connectionists: New Paper: Impaired context reversal learning, but not cue reversal learning, in patients with aMCI

[Mark A. Gluck]

Dear Colleagues,

A newly published paper, described below, presents a new task 
developed by Einat Levy-Gigi in our lab at Rutgers-Newark that 
assesses the interactions between cue and context learning, 
dissociating the influences of positive and negative feedback. In 
this first application of the task we have studied aMCI patients in 
Budapest, Hungary, with our collaborator, Szabolcs Keri. Other 
studies using this task in different clinical populations will follow 
as part of a broader program to better understand how context 
mediates hippocampal-based learning processes across various 
psychiatric disorders.

The paper is:

Levy-Gigi, E., Kelemen, O., Gluck, M. A., & Keri, S. (2011). Impaired 
context reversal learning, but not cue reversal learning, in patients 
with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Neuropsychologia. In press. 
doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.08.005

ABSTRACT: We assessed 30 newly diagnosed patients with amnestic mild 
cognitive impairment (aMCI) and 30 matched healthy controls. Reversal 
learning was assessed using a novel reinforcement learning task 
developed in our lab at Rutgers University. Participants first 
acquired and then reversed stimulus-outcome associations based on 
negative and positive feedback (losing and gaining points). Stimuli 
consisted of a cue (geometric shapes) and a spatial context 
(background color or pattern). Relative to controls, patients with 
aMCI exhibited a marked reversal learning deficit, which was highly 
selective for the reversal of context. The acquisition of 
stimulus-outcome associations and cue reversal learning were spared. 
Performance on the context reversal learning task significantly 
correlated with the right hippocampal volume.

This paper can be downloaded as a PDF from

http://www.gluck.edu/pdf/Levy_aMCI_Neuropsychologia_epub.pdf


As always, we welcome and appreciate comments and feedback on this 
work, as well as ideas for future work to build on this.

Best wishes, Mark
-- 

___________________________________________

Dr. Mark A. Gluck,  Professor 
   Director, Rutgers Memory Disorders Project 
Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience                           
Rutgers University                                 Phone:  (973) 353-3668/3298
197 University Ave.                                    
Newark, New Jersey  07102                   Email:  gluck at pavlov.rutgers.edu

   Lab:  http://www.gluck.edu
   Memory Loss & Brain Newsletter: http://www.memorylossonline.com


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