The interoceptive origin of reinforcement learning
Overview
Paper Summary
This review synthesizes research on reinforcement learning, focusing on how primary reward signals for food and water originate from post-oral feedback rather than immediate sensory experiences. The authors highlight distinct pathways for sugar, fat, and water, emphasizing the role of internal states and goals in shaping these signals. While primarily based on animal research, the findings suggest a revised reinforcement learning framework that incorporates the body's internal state evaluation.
Explain Like I'm Five
Our brains decide if something is "rewarding" based on how it affects our bodies, not just how it tastes. Things like sugar give us energy, which our brains like, and this is why we enjoy sugary foods.
Possible Conflicts of Interest
None identified.
Identified Limitations
Rating Explanation
This review presents a compelling argument for revising our understanding of reward processing. The research is strong, incorporates multiple lines of evidence, and proposes a revised reinforcement learning framework to accommodate these findings. The reliance on animal models, while necessary for some of the experiments described, slightly limits the immediate translatability to humans, hence the rating of 4 instead of 5.
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