Electrophysiological correlates of reinforcement learning in young people with Tourette syndrome with and without co-occurring ADHD symptoms

Shephard, Elizabeth; Jackson, Georgina M.; Groom, Madeleine J.

Abstract

Altered reinforcement learning is implicated in the causes of Tourette syndrome (TS) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). TS and ADHD frequently co-occur but how this affects reinforcement learning has not been investigated. We examined the ability of young people with TS (n = 18), TS+ADHD (N = 17), ADHD (n = 13) and typically developing controls (n = 20) to learn and reverse stimulus-response (S-R) associations based on positive and negative reinforcement feedback. We used a 2 (TS-yes, TS-no) x 2 (ADHD-yes, ADHD-no) factorial design to assess the effects of TS, ADHD, and their interaction on behavioural (accuracy, RT) and event-related potential (stimulus-locked P3, feedback-locked P2, feedback-related negativity, FRN) indices of learning and reversing the S-R associations. TS was associated with intact learning and reversal performance and largely typical ERP amplitudes. ADHD was associated with lower accuracy during S-R learning and impaired reversal learning (significantly reduced accuracy and a trend for smaller P3 amplitude). The results indicate that co-occurring ADHD symptoms impair reversal learning in TS+ADHD. The implications of these findings for behavioural tic therapies are discussed.

Citation

Shephard, E., Jackson, G. M., & Groom, M. J. (2016). Electrophysiological correlates of reinforcement learning in young people with Tourette syndrome with and without co-occurring ADHD symptoms. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 51, 17-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2016.04.005

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 14, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Apr 18, 2016
• Publication Date: 2016-06
• Deposit Date: Apr 29, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 29, 2016
• Journal: International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience
• Print ISSN: 0736-5748
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-474X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 51
• Pages: 17-27
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2016.04.005
• Keywords: Tourette syndrome; ADHD; Reinforcement learning; Comorditity; Event-related potentials; Electrophysiology
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/787503
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0736574816301009
• Contract Date: Apr 29, 2016