The Role of High-Frequency Oscillatory Activity in Reward Processing and Learning

Oscillatory activity has been proposed as a key mechanism in the integration of brain activity of distant structures. Particularly, high frequency brain oscillatory activity in the beta and gamma range has received increasing interest in the domains of attention and memory. In addition, a number of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Marco Pallarés, Josep, Münte, Thomas F., Rodríguez Fornells, Antoni
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/181374
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/181374
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Mapatge del cervell
Reforç (Psicologia)
Cervell
Oscil·lacions
Aprenentatge
Brain mapping
Reinforcement (Psychology)
Brain
Oscillations
Learning
Descripción
Sumario:Oscillatory activity has been proposed as a key mechanism in the integration of brain activity of distant structures. Particularly, high frequency brain oscillatory activity in the beta and gamma range has received increasing interest in the domains of attention and memory. In addition, a number of recent studies have revealed an increase of beta gamma activity (20-35 Hz) after unexpected or relevant positive reward outcomes. In the present manuscript we review the literature on this phenomenon and we propose that this activity is a brain signature elicited by unexpected positive outcomes in order to transmit a fast motivational value signal to the reward network. In addition, we hypothesize that beta-gamma oscillatory activity indexes the interaction between attentional and emotional systems, and that it directly reflects the appearance of unexpected positive rewards in learning-related contexts.