The role of learning-related dopamine signals in addiction vulnerability

Huys, Quentin J. M.; Tobler, Philippe N.; Hasler, Gregor; Flagel, Shelly B. (2014). The role of learning-related dopamine signals in addiction vulnerability. In: Diana, Marco; Di Chiara, Gaetano; Spano, Pierfranco (eds.) Dopamine. Progress in brain research: Vol. 211 (pp. 31-77). Amsterdam: Elsevier 10.1016/B978-0-444-63425-2.00003-9

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Dopaminergic signals play a mathematically precise role in reward-related learning, and variations in dopaminergic signaling have been implicated in vulnerability to addiction. Here, we provide a detailed overview of the relationship between theoretical, mathematical, and experimental accounts of phasic dopamine signaling, with implications for the role of learning-related dopamine signaling in addiction and related disorders. We describe the theoretical and behavioral characteristics of model-free learning based on errors in the prediction of reward, including step-by-step explanations of the underlying equations. We then use recent insights from an animal model that highlights individual variation in learning during a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm to describe overlapping aspects of incentive salience attribution and model-free learning. We argue that this provides a computationally coherent account of some features of addiction.

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