Key result
Positive mood induction resulted in a larger FRN for negative feedback and a lack of reward expectation modulation for positive feedback at the theta level compared to neutral mood.
Why the study?
Does positive mood induction alter reward prediction errors measured by FRN and theta modulations in participants completing a gambling task?
Does positive mood induction alter reward prediction errors measured by FRN and theta modulations in participants completing a gambling task?
Positive mood alters brain mechanisms of reward prediction errors during performance monitoring, reflecting a mood congruency effect where reward is anticipated as the default outcome.
May bias neural feedback processing in positive states; leaves open translation to behavior or clinical decision-making.
Positive mood broadens attention and builds additional mental resources. However, its effect on performance monitoring and reward prediction errors remain unclear. To examine this issue, we used a standard mood induction procedure (based on guided imagery) and asked 45 participants to complete a gambling task suited to study reward prediction errors by means of the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and mid-frontal theta band power. Results showed a larger FRN for negative feedback as well as a lack of reward expectation modulation for positive feedback at the theta level with positive mood, relative to a neutral mood condition. A control analysis showed that this latter result could not be explained by the mere superposition of the event-related brain potential component on the theta oscillations. Moreover, these neurophysiological effects were evidenced in the absence of impairments at the behavioral level or increase in autonomic arousal with positive mood, suggesting that this mood state reliably altered brain mechanisms of reward prediction errors during performance monitoring. We interpret these new results as reflecting a genuine mood congruency effect, whereby reward is anticipated as the default outcome with positive mood and therefore processed as unsurprising (even when it is unlikely), while negative feedback is perceived as unexpected.
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Paul et al. (2017) studied this question. Positive mood induction vs. Neutral mood condition was evaluated on Feedback-related negativity (FRN) and mid-frontal theta band power. Positive mood induction resulted in a larger FRN for negative feedback and a lack of reward expectation modulation for positive feedback at the theta level compared to neutral mood.
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