Dr Lina Skora | Investigating the role of cardiac information in adaptive learning

Internal bodily information, such as cardiac activity, is involved in a variety of mental processes, and its malfunctions are now believed to be implicated in a host of psychiatric disorders. Yet, there is little understanding of whether and how bodily signals functionally shape adaptive behaviour to deal with natural and social demands of the environment, such as adaptive learning. This research focuses on learning of instrumental approach/avoidance decisions as a fundamental substrate of adaptive behaviour. Building on the extensive evidence for autonomic correlates of adaptive orienting and performance monitoring, most prominently threat-related and error-related cardiac deceleration, this project will explore the informative value of cardiac signal during learning. Specifically, the proposed study will investigate whether components of cardiac activity – including the heart rate, heart rate variability, and its electrical readout in the brain (heartbeat-evoked potential; HEP) – index adaptive learning. The results have the potential to provide timely insights into the extent of embodiment of adaptive behaviour.