Nucleus accumbens activity dissociates different forms of salience: evidence from human intracranial recordings

TY - JOUR

T1 - Nucleus accumbens activity dissociates different forms of salience: evidence from human intracranial recordings

AU - Zaehle, Tino

AU - Bauch, Eva M

AU - Hinrichs, Hermann

AU - Schmitt, Friedhelm C

AU - Voges, Jürgen

AU - Heinze, Hans-Jochen

AU - Bunzeck, Nico

PY - 2013/5/15

Y1 - 2013/5/15

N2 - Theoretical models and empirical work indicate a critical role of the NAcc in salience processing. For instance, the NAcc not only responds to appetitive and aversive information, but it also signals novelty, contextual deviance, and action monitoring. However, because most studies have investigated only one specific type of salience independently, it remains unclear how the NAcc concurrently differentiates between different forms of salience. To investigate this issue, we used intracranial electroencephalography in human epilepsy patients together with a previously established visual oddball paradigm. Here, three different oddball categories (novel, neutral, and target images) were infrequently presented among a standard scene image, and subjects responded to the target via button press. This task allowed us to differentiate "item novelty" (new vs neutral oddballs) from "contextual deviance" (neutral oddballs vs standard images) and "targetness" (target vs neutral oddballs). Time-frequency analysis revealed a dissociation between item novelty and contextual deviance on the basis of decreases in either θ (4-8 Hz) or β power (20-30 Hz). Targetness, on the other hand, was signaled by positive deflections in the stimulus-locked local field potentials, which, importantly, correlated with subjects' reaction times. These findings indicate that, in an ongoing stream of information, the NAcc differentiates between types of salience by distinct neural mechanisms to guide goal-directed behavior.

AB - Theoretical models and empirical work indicate a critical role of the NAcc in salience processing. For instance, the NAcc not only responds to appetitive and aversive information, but it also signals novelty, contextual deviance, and action monitoring. However, because most studies have investigated only one specific type of salience independently, it remains unclear how the NAcc concurrently differentiates between different forms of salience. To investigate this issue, we used intracranial electroencephalography in human epilepsy patients together with a previously established visual oddball paradigm. Here, three different oddball categories (novel, neutral, and target images) were infrequently presented among a standard scene image, and subjects responded to the target via button press. This task allowed us to differentiate "item novelty" (new vs neutral oddballs) from "contextual deviance" (neutral oddballs vs standard images) and "targetness" (target vs neutral oddballs). Time-frequency analysis revealed a dissociation between item novelty and contextual deviance on the basis of decreases in either θ (4-8 Hz) or β power (20-30 Hz). Targetness, on the other hand, was signaled by positive deflections in the stimulus-locked local field potentials, which, importantly, correlated with subjects' reaction times. These findings indicate that, in an ongoing stream of information, the NAcc differentiates between types of salience by distinct neural mechanisms to guide goal-directed behavior.

KW - Adult

KW - Brain Mapping

KW - Electroencephalography

KW - Epilepsy

KW - Evoked Potentials

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Neuropsychological Tests

KW - Nucleus Accumbens

KW - Photic Stimulation

KW - Reaction Time

KW - Recognition (Psychology)

KW - Spectrum Analysis

KW - Time Factors

KW - Visual Perception

U2 - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5276-12.2013

DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5276-12.2013

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 23678119

VL - 33

SP - 8764

EP - 8771

JO - J NEUROSCI

JF - J NEUROSCI

SN - 0270-6474

IS - 20

ER -