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Impaired social learning in patients with major depressive disorder revealed by a reinforcement learning model.

Authors :
Jin Y
Gao Q
Wang Y
Dietz M
Xiao L
Cai Y
Bliksted V
Zhou Y
Source :
International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHP [Int J Clin Health Psychol] 2023 Oct-Dec; Vol. 23 (4), pp. 100389. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 May 11.
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Background/objective: Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have altered learning rates for rewards and losses in non-social learning paradigms. However, it is not well understood whether the ability to learn from social interactions is altered in MDD patients. Using reinforcement learning during the repeated Trust Game (rTG), we investigated how MDD patients learn to trust newly-met partners in MDD patients.<br />Method: Sixty-eight MDD patients and fifty-four controls each played as 'investor' and interacted with ten different partners. We manipulated both the level of trustworthiness by varying the chance of reciprocity (10, 30, 50, 70 and 90%) and reputation disclosure, where partners' reputation was either pre-disclosed or hidden.<br />Results: Our reinforcement learning model revealed that MDD patients had significantly higher learning rates for losses than the controls in both the reputation disclosure and non-disclosure condition. The difference was larger when reputation was not disclosed than disclosed. We observed no difference in learning rates for gains in either condition.<br />Conclusions: Our findings highlight that abnormal learning for losses underlies the social learning process in MDD patients. This abnormality is higher when situational unpredictability is high versus low. Our findings provide novel insights into social rehabilitation of MDD.<br />Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.<br /> (© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2174-0852
Volume :
23
Issue :
4
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHP
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
37829189
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijchp.2023.100389