Cited by 90Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum DisordersMotor Control and AdaptationNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Dopamine-dependent reinforcement of motor skill learning: evidence from Gilles de la Tourette syndrome

Palminteri, Stefano, Lebreton, Maël, Worbe, Yulia, Hartmann, Andreas, Lehéricy, Stéphane, Vidailhet, Marie, Grabli, David, Pessiglione, Mathias·2011·Brain

Abstract

Reinforcement learning theory has been extensively used to understand the neural underpinnings of instrumental behaviour. A central assumption surrounds dopamine signalling reward prediction errors, so as to update action values and ensure better choices in the future. However, educators may share the intuitive idea that reinforcements not only affect choices but also motor skills such as typing. Here, we employed a novel paradigm to demonstrate that monetary rewards can improve motor skill learning in humans. Indeed, healthy participants progressively got faster in executing sequences of key presses that were repeatedly rewarded with 10 euro compared with 1 cent. Control tests revealed that the effect of reinforcement on motor skill learning was independent of subjects being aware of sequence-reward associations. To account for this implicit effect, we developed an actor-critic model, in which reward prediction errors are used by the critic to update state values and by the actor to facilitate action execution. To assess the role of dopamine in such computations, we applied the same paradigm in patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, who were either unmedicated or treated with neuroleptics. We also included patients with focal dystonia, as an example of hyperkinetic motor disorder unrelated to dopamine. Model fit showed the following dissociation: while motor skills were affected in all patient groups, reinforcement learning was selectively enhanced in unmedicated patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome and impaired by neuroleptics. These results support the hypothesis that overactive dopamine transmission leads to excessive reinforcement of motor sequences, which might explain the formation of tics in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1093/brain/awr147

Cites

66 of 66 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Palminteri, S., Lebreton, M., Worbe, Y., Hartmann, A., Lehéricy, S., Vidailhet, M., Grabli, D., & Pessiglione, M.
Affiliations
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
Venue
Brain
Published
2011-07-04
Volume
134
Issue
8
Pages
2287-2301
ISSN
  • 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2156
OpenAlex
W2007524113
Cited by
90
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 4
FWCI
5.86
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Brain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Yale University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Motor Control and Adaptation
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
motor skill learning, reinforcement learning, dopamine, Tourette syndrome, reward prediction error, monetary rewards, actor-critic, antipsychotic drugs, focal dystonia, tics
MeSH terms
Adult, Analysis of Variance, Choice Behavior, Computer Simulation, Dopamine, Female, Tourette Syndrome, Humans, Learning, Male, Models, Psychological, Reaction Time, Reinforcement, Psychology, Motor Skills Disorders, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review