Parkinson's disease alters ability to learn from rewards
Parkinson's disease alters patient's ability to learn from rewards while treatment affects ability to learn from negative outcome -- research reveals possible link to depression, impulse control disorders.
``These deficits in the brain's reward system may help explain clinical symptoms of ADHD, including inattention and reduced motivation, as well as the propensity for complications such as drug abuse and obesity among ADHD patients,'' said lead author Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and a long-time collaborator on neuroimaging research at Brookhaven Lab. ``Finding ways to address the underlying reward-system deficit could improve the direct clinical outcome of ADHD, and potentially reduce the likelihood of other negative consequences of this condition,'' said study co-author Gene-Jack Wang, chair of Brookhaven's medical department.