Dopamine release in human associative striatum during reversal learning

The dopaminergic system is firmly implicated in reversal learning but human measurements of dopamine release as a correlate of reversal learning success are lacking. Dopamine release and hemodynamic brain activity in response to unexpected changes in action-outcome probabilities are here explored using simultaneous dynamic [11C]Raclopride PET-fMRI and computational modelling of behavior. When participants encounter reversed reward probabilities during a card guessing game, dopamine release is observed in associative striatum. Individual differences in absolute reward prediction error and sensitivity to errors are associated with peak dopamine receptor occupancy. The fMRI response to perseverance errors at the onset of a reversal spatially overlap with the site of dopamine release. Trial-by-trial fMRI correlates of absolute prediction errors show a response in striatum and association cortices, closely overlapping with the location of dopamine release, and separable from a valence signal in ventral striatum. The results converge to implicate striatal dopamine release in associative striatum as a central component of reversal learning, possibly signifying the need for increased cognitive control when new stimuli-responses should be learned.