Journal Article

A computational model for learning from repeated traumatic experiences under uncertainty

Kaye, Alfred P., Rao, Manasa G., Ressler, Kerry J., Kwan, Alex C., Krystal, John H.

2023

Overview

Traumatic events can lead to lifelong, inflexible adaptations in threat perception and behavior, which characterize posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This process involves associations between sensory cues and internal states of threat and then generalization of the threat responses to previously neutral cues. However, most formulations neglect adaptations to threat that are not specific to those associations. To incorporate nonassociative responses to threat, we propose a computational theory of PTSD based on adaptation to the frequency of traumatic events by using a reinforcement learning momentum model. Recent threat prediction errors generate momentum that influences subsequent threat perception in novel contexts. This model fits primary data acquired from a mouse model of PTSD, in which unpredictable footshocks in one context accelerate threat learning in a novel context. The theory is consistent with epidemiological data that show that PTSD incidence increases with the number of traumatic events, as well as the disproportionate impact of early life trauma. Because the theory proposes that PTSD relates to the average of recent threat prediction errors rather than the strength of a specific association, it makes novel predictions for the treatment of PTSD.

• Publisher: Springer US,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Adaptation / Algorithms / Animal models / Animals / Bayesian analysis / Behavior / Behavioral Science and Psychology / Cognitive Psychology / Computer Simulation / Disease Models, Animal / Epidemiology / Fear - physiology / Freezing / Humans / Learning - physiology / Life history / Mathematical models / Mice / Models, Psychological / Neurobiology / Neurosciences / Post traumatic stress disorder / Predation / Psychology / Reinforcement, Psychology / Simulation / Special Issue/Uncertainty / Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - physiopathology / Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology / Threats / Trauma / Uncertainty