Bi-directional effect of increasing doses of baclofen on reinforcement learning

Terrier, Jean; Ort, Andrés; Yvon, Cédric Marcel; Saj, Arnaud; Vuilleumier, Patrik; Luescher, Christian

doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00040

Scientific article

English

Bi-directional effect of increasing doses of baclofen on reinforcement learning

Contributors

Terrier, Jean; Ort, Andrés; Yvon, Cédric Marcel; Saj, Arnaud; Vuilleumier, Patrik

; Luescher, Christian

Published in

Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, vol. 5, 40

Publication date

2011

Abstract

In rodents as well as in humans, efficient reinforcement learning depends on dopamine (DA) released from ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons. It has been shown that in brain slices of mice, GABA(B)-receptor agonists at low concentrations increase the firing frequency of VTA-DA neurons, while high concentrations reduce the firing frequency. It remains however elusive whether baclofen can modulate reinforcement learning in humans. Here, in a double-blind study in 34 healthy human volunteers, we tested the effects of a low and a high concentration of oral baclofen, a high affinity GABA(B)-receptor agonist, in a gambling task associated with monetary reward. A low (20 mg) dose of baclofen increased the efficiency of reward-associated learning but had no effect on the avoidance of monetary loss. A high (50 mg) dose of baclofen on the other hand did not affect the learning curve. At the end of the task, subjects who received 20 mg baclofen p.o. were more accurate in choosing the symbol linked to the highest probability of earning money compared to the control group (89.55 ± 1.39 vs. 81.07 ± 1.55%, p = 0.002). Our results support a model where baclofen, at low concentrations, causes a disinhibition of DA neurons, increases DA levels and thus facilitates reinforcement learning.

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

TERRIER, Jean et al. Bi-directional effect of increasing doses of baclofen on reinforcement learning. In: Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience, 2011, vol. 5, p. 40. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00040

Article (Published version)

Identifiers

PID : unige:25663
DOI : 10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00040
PMID : 21811448

Journal ISSN

1662-5153

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02/11/2026 16:37:01

Bi-directional effect of increasing doses of baclofen on reinforcement learning

Contributors

Published in

Publication date

Abstract

UNIGE affiliation entities

UNIGE research groups

Citation (ISO format)

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Journal ISSN

Technical informations

Creation

First validation

Update

Status update

Last indexation