The neurochemical substrates of habitual and goal-directed control

Abstract

Our daily decisions are governed by the arbitration between goal-directed and habitual strategies. However, the neurochemical basis of this arbitration is unclear. We assessed the contribution of dopaminergic, serotonergic, and opioidergic systems to this balance across reward and loss domains. Thirty-nine participants (17 healthy controls, 15 patients with pathological gambling, and 7 with binge eating disorder) underwent positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with [ 18 F]FDOPA, [ 11 C]MADAM and [ 11 C]carfentanil to assess presynaptic dopamine, and serotonin transporter and mu-opioid receptor binding potential. Separately, participants completed a modified two-step task, which quantifies the degree to which decision-making is influenced by goal-directed or habitual strategies. All participants completed a version with reward outcomes; healthy controls additionally completed a version with loss outcomes. In the context of rewarding outcomes, we found that greater serotonin transporter binding potential in prefrontal regions was associated with habitual control, while greater serotonin transporter binding potential in the putamen was marginally associated with goal-directed control; however, the findings were no longer significant when controlling for the opposing valence (loss). In blocks with loss outcomes, we found that the opioidergic system, specifically greater [ 11 C]carfentanil binding potential, was positively associated with goal-directed control and negatively associated with habit-directed control. Our findings illuminate the complex neurochemical basis of goaldirected and habitual behavior, implicating differential roles for prefrontal and subcortical serotonin in decisionmaking across healthy and pathological populations.

Loss of control over eating: A systematic review of task based research into impulsive and compulsive processes in binge eating

“…This effect was evident both at the level of choice data and supported by computational modelling. It could not be replicated in a subsequent study (Voon et al, 2020). However, it should be noted that this latter study had a very small BED sample (N=7).…”

“…However, it should be noted that this latter study had a very small BED sample (N=7). Both studies report enhanced, feedback-independent choice perseveration (Voon et al, 2020(Voon et al, , 2015a. For study characteristics, see Table 6.…”

Loss of control over eating: A systematic review of task based research into impulsive and compulsive processes in binge eating

“…This effect was evident both at the level of choice data and supported by computational modelling. It could not be replicated in a subsequent study (Voon et al, 2020), however, it should be noted that this latter study had a very small BED sample (N=7). Both studies report enhanced, feedback-independent choice perseveration (Voon et al, 2020(Voon et al, , 2015a).…”

L-DOPA administration shifts the stability-flexibility balance towards attentional capture by distractors during a visual search task

“…In a second step, repeated neuroimaging could be employed to examine PFC and striatal involvement under the above specific dopaminergic agents in a within-subject design. Of course, novel approaches such as functional MRI scanning along with PET assessment (Salami et al 2019 ), combined PET and structural MRI examination (D’Ambrosio et al 2021 ), PET assessment of multiple neurotransmitters (Voon et al 2020 ), and prefrontal [ 11 C]raclopride-PET (Papenberg et al 2020 ) to measure receptor density, could be applied as well. To disentangle which specific sequence of the attentional mechanism dopamine is involved in, drug interventions could be implemented in an EEG design similar to that of Liesefeld et al ( 2017 ).…”