Slower Learning Rates from Negative Outcomes in Substance Use Disorder over a 1-Year Period and Their Potential Predictive Utility. Issue 1 (8th June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Smith, Ryan; Taylor, Samuel; Stewart, Jennifer L.; Guinjoan, Salvador M.; Ironside, Maria; Kirlic, Namik; Ekhtiari, Hamed; White, Evan J.; Zheng, Haixia; Kuplicki, Rayus; Paulus, Martin P.
• Is Part Of: Computational psychiatry. Volume 6:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 117
• Page End: 141
• Publication Date: 2022-06-08
• Subjects: Substance Use Disorders -- Computational Modeling -- Active Inference -- Learning Rate -- Explore-Exploit Dilemma -- Directed Exploration; Psychiatry -- Mathematical models -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Computational neuroscience -- Periodicals; 616.89140285
• DOI: 10.5334/cpsy.85
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2379-6227

Abstract

Computational modelling is a promising approach to parse dysfunctional cognitive processes in substance use disorders (SUDs), but it is unclear how much these processes change during the recovery period. We assessed 1-year follow-up data on a sample of treatment-seeking individuals with one or more SUDs (alcohol, cannabis, sedatives, stimulants, hallucinogens, and/or opioids; N = 83) that were previously assessed at baseline within a prior computational modelling study. Relative to healthy controls (HCs; N = 48), these participants were found at baseline to show altered learning rates and less precise action selection while completing an explore-exploit decision-making task. Here we replicated these analyses when these individuals returned and re-performed the task 1 year later to assess the stability of baseline differences. We also examined whether baseline modelling measures could predict symptoms at follow-up. Bayesian and frequentist analyses indicated that: (a) group differences in learning rates were stable over time (posterior probability = 1); and (b) intra-class correlations (ICCs) between model parameters at baseline and follow-up were significant and ranged from small to moderate (.25 ≤ ICCs ≤ .54). Exploratory analyses also suggested that learning rates and/or information-seeking values at baseline were associated with substance use severity at 1-year follow-up in stimulant and opioid users (.36 ≤ r s ≤ .43). These findings suggest that learning dysfunctions are moderately stable during recovery and could correspond to trait-like vulnerability factors. In addition, computational measures at baseline had some predictive value for changes in substance use severity over time and could be clinically informative.