Cited by 381Embodied and Extended CognitionNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Dopamine, affordance and active inference

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Friston, Karl J., Shiner, Tamara, FitzGerald, Thomas, Galea, Joseph M., Adams, Rick, Brown, Harriet, Dolan, Raymond J., Moran, Rosalyn +2 more·2012·PLoS Computational Biology

Abstract

The role of dopamine in behaviour and decision-making is often cast in terms of reinforcement learning and optimal decision theory. Here, we present an alternative view that frames the physiology of dopamine in terms of Bayes-optimal behaviour. In this account, dopamine controls the precision or salience of (external or internal) cues that engender action. In other words, dopamine balances bottom-up sensory information and top-down prior beliefs when making hierarchical inferences (predictions) about cues that have affordance. In this paper, we focus on the consequences of changing tonic levels of dopamine firing using simulations of cued sequential movements. Crucially, the predictions driving movements are based upon a hierarchical generative model that infers the context in which movements are made. This means that we can confuse agents by changing the context (order) in which cues are presented. These simulations provide a (Bayes-optimal) model of contextual uncertainty and set switching that can be quantified in terms of behavioural and electrophysiological responses. Furthermore, one can simulate dopaminergic lesions (by changing the precision of prediction errors) to produce pathological behaviours that are reminiscent of those seen in neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease. We use these simulations to demonstrate how a single functional role for dopamine at the synaptic level can manifest in different ways at the behavioural level.

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  • The dependency of precisions on expected hidden causes and states mediates attention and action selection in hierarchical processing.

    “We have proposed that this dependency mediates attention and action selection in hierarchical processing (Feldman and Friston, 2010; Friston et al., 2012)”

    From The Computational Anatomy of Psychosis (2013) · cites this paper as Friston et al., 2012

    The Introduction and Methods (‘Action and affordance’; page unavailable) propose that precision biases processing across a hierarchy, linking attentional modulation with action selection. But Methods (‘The neurobiology of precision’; page unavailable) says this paper assumes constant precision at each hierarchical level and addresses optimization of state-dependent precision elsewhere. It therefore does not fully support the specific claim that dependence on expected hidden causes and states mediates both processes. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Dopamine modulates the prediction-error signal by increasing its gain.

    “Dopamine modulates the prediction error signal, enhancing its gain.16”

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [65]Haken H 1983 Synergetics: An introduction. Non-equilibrium phase transition and self-selforganisation in physics, chemistry and biology. 3rd edition Berlin Springer Verlag
  2. [117]Moustafa AA Gluck MA 2011 A neurocomputational model of dopamine and prefrontal-striatal interactions during multicue category learning by Parkinson patients. J Cogn Neurosc 23 151 67 20044893

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Authors
Friston, K. J., Shiner, T., FitzGerald, T., Galea, J. M., Adams, R., Brown, H., Dolan, R. J., Moran, R., Stephan, K. E., & Bestmann, S.
Affiliations
  • Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
  • National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (GB)
Corresponding author
Friston, Karl J.
Venue
PLoS Computational Biology
Published
2012-01-05
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
e1002327
ISSN
  • 1553-734X (ISSN-L)
  • 1553-7358
OpenAlex
W1979732124
Cited by
381
References
150
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 21 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 12
FWCI
13.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS Computational Biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (submittedVersion)
  • UEA Digital Repository (University of East Anglia) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • ETH Zürich Research Collection (cc-by)
  • Zurich Open Repository and Archive (University of Zurich)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (091593, 088130)
  • Directorate for Biological Sciences
  • Medical Research Council (MR/K00414X/1)
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/F02424X/1)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Embodied and Extended Cognition
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
dopamine, affordances, active inference, contextual uncertainty, set switching, hierarchical generative models, dopaminergic lesions, Parkinson's disease, decision-making, reinforcement learning
MeSH terms
Brain, Computer Simulation, Cues, Decision Making, Dopamine, Humans, Models, Neurological, Nerve Net, Synaptic Transmission, Perceptual Masking

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