4/4 We showed that a negative coupling between Hb and VTA when encoding NPE, which is associated with a negative learning bias. These interactions, in turn, could affect downstream NAcc responses to NPE. Structural equation modeling suggested that Hb drives activities in this network encoding NPE.

3/4 We then examine how a priori regions in a reward circuit, including habenula(Hb), ventral tegmental area(VTA), nucleus accumbens(NAcc), and ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), encode positive and negative reward prediction errors (PPE & NPE). We showed Hb encodes NPE while VTA encodes PPE.

2/4 We showed that negative learning bias derived by a 2 learning-rate Rescorla-Wagner model captured pro-variance bias (PVB, a manifest of risk-seeking behaviour qualified using our novel reinforcement learning task). Negative learning bias & PVB are associated with anxiety and depression scores.

1/4 I’m super excited to share our latest PNAS paper: a 7T-fMRI study shows that functional connectivity between habenula and VTA in humans is associated with individual differences in negative learning bias, which further associates with higher anxiety and depression scores. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...