IntroductionAttentional bias to reward-associated stimuli can occur even when it interferes with goal-driven behavior. One theory posits that dopaminergic signaling in the striatum during reward conditioning leads to changes in visual cortical and parietal representations of the stimulus used, and this, in turn, sustains attentional bias even when reward is discontinued. However, only a few studies have examined neural activity during both rewarded and unrewarded task phases.MethodsIn the current study, participants first completed a reward-conditioning phase, during which responses to certain stimuli were associated with monetary reward. These stimuli were then included as non-predictive cues in a spatial cueing task. Participants underwent functional brain imaging during both task phases.ResultsThe results show that striatal activity during the learning phase predicted increased visual cortical and parietal activity and decreased ventro-medial prefrontal cortex activity in response to conditioned stimuli during the test. Striatal activity was also associated with anterior cingulate cortex activation when the reward-conditioned stimulus directed attention away from the target.DiscussionOur findings suggest that striatal activity during reward conditioning predicts the degree to which reward history biases attention through learning-induced changes in visual and parietal activities.

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从学习价值到持续偏见：奖励调节如何改变注意力优先级

简介 即使与奖励相关的刺激干扰了目标驱动的行为，也可能会出现注意力偏差。一种理论认为，奖励调节过程中纹状体中的多巴胺能信号会导致所用刺激的视觉皮层和顶叶表征发生变化，反过来，即使奖励停止，也会维持注意力偏差。然而，只有少数研究检查了奖励和无奖励任务阶段的神经活动。方法在当前的研究中，参与者首先完成奖励调节阶段，在此期间对某些刺激的反应与金钱奖励相关。然后将这些刺激作为非预测线索纳入空间线索任务中。参与者在两个任务阶段都接受了功能性脑成像。结果显示，学习阶段的纹状体活动预测了测试期间对条件刺激的反应，视觉皮层和顶叶活动增加，腹内侧前额叶皮层活动减少。当奖励条件刺激将注意力从目标上转移开时，纹状体活动也与前扣带皮层激活相关。讨论我们的研究结果表明，奖励条件期间的纹状体活动可以预测奖励历史通过学习引起的视觉和顶叶变化而偏向注意力的程度活动。