Subproject 3

Dynamic belief updating under stress: context-dependency and temporal dynamics

Project PI:

Prof. Dr. Lars Schwabe

Post-doc Researcher:

Dr. Hendrik Heinbockel

  

Stressful events are ubiquitous in our everyday lives. These stressors can have a major impact on how we think, feel, and act. Although thought to be generally adaptive for coping with the ongoing stressor and similar future events, stress-induced changes in cognition may become maladaptive and ultimately contribute to stress-related mental disorders. Previous research focussed mainly on stress effects on memory processes. If and through which mechanisms stress affects processes of dynamic belief updating, which are crucial for adaptation to changing environments, remains largely unknown. Thus, the overarching objective of this project is to determine how acute stress alters the fundamental process of dynamic belief updating. More specifically, we aim to (i) elucidate the brain mechanisms through which stress may affect dynamic belief updating, (ii) determine the role of rapid noradrenergic and delayed glucocorticoid responses in potential changes in dynamic belief updating, and (iii) to examine to what extent the nature of potential stress effects on dynamic belief updating is dependent on the relationship between stressor and learning task. To these ends, we will combine a statistical learning task with experimental stress induction, computational modelling and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In two complex experiments, healthy participants will complete the ‘confetti cannon task’ while they undergo, in the MRI scanner, a task-unrelated (experiment I) or a task-related (experiment II) stressor (or a control manipulation). Stress system activity and phasic arousal will be assessed via pupillometry, subjective, autonomic, and endocrine measurements. We predict that task-related stress facilitates dynamic belief updating, whereas task-unrelated stress impairs dynamic belief updating. The findings of this project will provide novel insights into the mechanisms through which stress alters dynamic belief updating and may – in addition to its general theoretical relevance for understanding this fundamental process of statistical learning – enhance our understanding of stress-related mental disorders.