The dynamics of functional brain network segregation in feedback-driven learning.

Prior evidence suggests that increasingly efficient task performance in human learning is associated with large scale brain network dynamics. However, the specific nature of this general relationship has remained unclear. Here, we characterize performance improvement during feedback-driven stimulus-response (S-R) learning by learning rate as well as S-R habit strength and test whether and how these two behavioral measures are associated with a functional brain state transition from a more integrated to a more segregated brain state across learning. Capitalizing on two separate fMRI studies using similar but not identical experimental designs, we demonstrate for both studies that a higher learning rate is associated with a more rapid brain network segregation. By contrast, S-R habit strength is not reliably related to changes in brain network segregation. Overall, our current study results highlight the utility of dynamic functional brain state analysis. From a broader perspective taking into account previous study results, our findings align with a framework that conceptualizes brain network segregation as a general feature of processing efficiency not only in feedback-driven learning as in the present study but also in other types of learning and in other task domains.

Altered Neural Efficiency of Decision Making During Temporal Reward Discounting in Anorexia Nervosa.

OBJECTIVE: The ability of individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) to resist hunger and restrict caloric intake is often believed to reflect an unusual amount of self-control. However, the underlying neural substrate is poorly understood, especially in adolescent patients. METHOD: Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used during an intertemporal choice task to probe the hemodynamic correlates of a common measurement of self-control-delayed (monetary) reward discounting-in a sample of acutely ill, predominately adolescent female patients with AN (n = 31) and age-matched healthy controls (n = 31). RESULTS: Delayed discounting rates did not differ between the groups, but decision making was consistently faster in the AN group. Although no group differences in the neural correlates of reward valuation were evident, activation associated with decision making was decreased in the AN group, most notably in the lateral prefrontal and posterior parietal regions implicated in executive control. Follow-up analysis of difficult decisions showed decreased activation in the AN group in a region of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. CONCLUSION: Decreased activation in frontoparietal regions involved in decision making, but faster and more consistent choice behavior, suggests that the altered efficiency of neural resource allocation might underlie an increased level of self-control in AN. This pattern of neural activation and behavior might reflect an ingrained "habit" to sustain high-level proactive (anticipatory) cognitive control in AN, which in turn might compromise reactive control mechanisms needed to adapt to changing cognitive demands, such as when difficult decisions must be made.