A seminar «Effects of agency and timing on the processing of action consequences in humans" by Prof. Dr. Christian Bellebaum

Abstract:

In the 1990s, findings on specific learning deficits in patients with Parkinson’s Disease as well as single cell recordings in monkeys strongly suggested that the dopamine system, and the basal ganglia in particular, are important for leaning from positive and negative feedback. In the following years, feedback learning mechanisms and the role of different neural structures receiving dopaminergic inputs such as the striatum and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) have been examined extensively in humans, mainly with functional neuroimaging. In my talk I will present data from two different lines of research which show that the strong role of dopamine receiving structures such as the striatum and ACC in learning associations between actions and action consequences is restricted to certain situations. ACC and striatum are particularly involved when feedback is given after a very short time interval for self-performed actions. Parts of the striatum seem to be dedicated to the integration of information about recently performed motor actions and the positive or negative consequences of these actions. Accordingly, striatal involvement is reduced in learning from observation, when no own action is performed. For delayed feedback given for self-performed actions, we also found evidence of altered processing mechanisms. The differences compared to immediate feedback were, however, more quantitative than qualitative in nature. In the final part of the talk I want to show parallels between the processing of “cognitive” action consequences such as feedback and “sensory” action consequences, which may help to shed a light on the underlying mechanisms for linking actions and action consequences.

Date: 21 .09.2017

Time: 15.00

Address: Armianskiy per., 4  https://goo.gl/hd2nwB

Room: 414