Perception-Action Integration Is Modulated by the Catecholaminergic System Depending on Learning Experience

Overview

Journal Int J Neuropsychopharmacol

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2021 Mar 17

PMID 33730752

Citations 3

Authors

Elena Eggert

Annet Bluschke

Adam Takacs

Maximilian Kleimaker

Alexander Munchau

Veit Roessner

Moritz Muckschel

Christian Beste

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: The process underlying the integration of perception and action is a focal topic in neuroscientific research and cognitive frameworks such as the theory of event coding have been developed to explain the mechanisms of perception-action integration. The neurobiological underpinnings are poorly understood. While it has been suggested that the catecholaminergic system may play a role, there are opposing predictions regarding the effects of catecholamines on perception-action integration.

Methods: Methylphenidate (MPH) is a compound commonly used to modulate the catecholaminergic system. In a double-blind, randomized crossover study design, we examined the effect of MPH (0.25 mg/kg) on perception-action integration using an established "event file coding" paradigm in a group of n = 45 healthy young adults.

Results: The data reveal that, compared with the placebo, MPH attenuates binding effects based on the established associations between stimuli and responses, provided participants are already familiar with the task. However, without prior task experience, MPH did not modulate performance compared with the placebo.

Conclusions: Catecholamines and learning experience interactively modulate perception-action integration, especially when perception-action associations have to be reconfigured. The data suggest there is a gain control-based mechanism underlying the interactive effects of learning/task experience and catecholaminergic activity during perception-action integration.

Citing Articles

Neurophysiological insights into catecholamine-dependent tDCS modulation of cognitive control.

Koyun A, Wendiggensen P, Roessner V, Beste C, Stock A Commun Biol. 2025; 8(1):375.

PMID: 40050533 PMC: 11885824. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-07805-6.

Neurobiological influences on event perception: the role of catecholamines.

Ghorbani F, Zhou X, Roessner V, Hommel B, Prochnow A, Beste C Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2025; 28(2).

PMID: 39981699 PMC: 11879076. DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyaf008.

The Ability to Voluntarily Regulate Theta Band Activity Affects How Pharmacological Manipulation of the Catecholaminergic System Impacts Cognitive Control.

Prochnow A, Muckschel M, Eggert E, Senftleben J, Frings C, Munchau A Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2024; 27(1).

PMID: 38181228 PMC: 10810285. DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyae003.

Preserved perception-action integration in adolescents after a COVID-19 infection.

Graf K, Gustke A, Mosle M, Armann J, Schneider J, Schumm L Sci Rep. 2023; 13(1):13287.

PMID: 37587175 PMC: 10432494. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40534-6.

Auricular Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation Diminishes Alpha-Band-Related Inhibitory Gating Processes During Conflict Monitoring in Frontal Cortices.

Konjusha A, Colzato L, Muckschel M, Beste C Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2022; 25(6):457-467.

PMID: 35137108 PMC: 9211011. DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyac013.

References

Takacs A, Zink N, Wolff N, Munchau A, Muckschel M, Beste C . Connecting EEG signal decomposition and response selection processes using the theory of event coding framework. Hum Brain Mapp. 2020; 41(10):2862-2877. PMC: 7294061. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24983. View

Faraone S . The pharmacology of amphetamine and methylphenidate: Relevance to the neurobiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other psychiatric comorbidities. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2018; 87:255-270. PMC: 8063758. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.02.001. View

Hommel B . Theory of Event Coding (TEC) V2.0: Representing and controlling perception and action. Atten Percept Psychophys. 2019; 81(7):2139-2154. PMC: 6848055. DOI: 10.3758/s13414-019-01779-4. View

Kentros C, Agnihotri N, Streater S, Hawkins R, Kandel E . Increased attention to spatial context increases both place field stability and spatial memory. Neuron. 2004; 42(2):283-95. DOI: 10.1016/s0896-6273(04)00192-8. View

Kleimaker M, Takacs A, Conte G, Onken R, Verrel J, Baumer T . Increased perception-action binding in Tourette syndrome. Brain. 2020; 143(6):1934-1945. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awaa111. View

Moeller B, Frings C . Dissociation of binding and learning processes. Atten Percept Psychophys. 2017; 79(8):2590-2605. DOI: 10.3758/s13414-017-1393-7. View

Hamilton T, Wheatley B, Sinclair D, Bachmann M, Larkum M, Colmers W . Dopamine modulates synaptic plasticity in dendrites of rat and human dentate granule cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010; 107(42):18185-90. PMC: 2964233. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1011558107. View

Hommel B . Action control according to TEC (theory of event coding). Psychol Res. 2009; 73(4):512-26. PMC: 2694931. DOI: 10.1007/s00426-009-0234-2. View

Wolff N, Muckschel M, Ziemssen T, Beste C . The role of phasic norepinephrine modulations during task switching: evidence for specific effects in parietal areas. Brain Struct Funct. 2017; 223(2):925-940. DOI: 10.1007/s00429-017-1531-y. View

10.

Petruo V, Stock A, Munchau A, Beste C . A systems neurophysiology approach to voluntary event coding. Neuroimage. 2016; 135:324-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.05.007. View

11.

Pertermann M, Bluschke A, Roessner V, Beste C . The Modulation of Neural Noise Underlies the Effectiveness of Methylphenidate Treatment in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2019; 4(8):743-750. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.03.011. View

12.

Takacs A, Muckschel M, Roessner V, Beste C . Decoding Stimulus-Response Representations and Their Stability Using EEG-Based Multivariate Pattern Analysis. Cereb Cortex Commun. 2021; 1(1):tgaa016. PMC: 8152870. DOI: 10.1093/texcom/tgaa016. View

13.

Frings C, Hommel B, Koch I, Rothermund K, Dignath D, Giesen C . Binding and Retrieval in Action Control (BRAC). Trends Cogn Sci. 2020; 24(5):375-387. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.02.004. View

14.

Dosher B, Lu Z . Perceptual learning reflects external noise filtering and internal noise reduction through channel reweighting. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998; 95(23):13988-93. PMC: 25004. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.95.23.13988. View

15.

Colzato L, Zmigrod S, Hommel B . Dopamine, norepinephrine, and the management of sensorimotor bindings: individual differences in updating of stimulus-response episodes are predicted by DAT1, but not DBH5'-ins/del. Exp Brain Res. 2013; 228(2):213-20. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-013-3553-x. View

16.

Robbins T, Arnsten A . The neuropsychopharmacology of fronto-executive function: monoaminergic modulation. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2009; 32:267-87. PMC: 2863127. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.051508.135535. View

17.

Muckschel M, Gohil K, Ziemssen T, Beste C . The norepinephrine system and its relevance for multi-component behavior. Neuroimage. 2016; 146:1062-1070. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.10.007. View

18.

Muckschel M, Eggert E, Prochnow A, Beste C . Learning Experience Reverses Catecholaminergic Effects on Adaptive Behavior. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2019; 23(1):12-19. PMC: 7064049. DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyz058. View

19.

Eberhardt K, Esser S, Haider H . Abstract feature codes: The building blocks of the implicit learning system. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 2017; 43(7):1275-1290. DOI: 10.1037/xhp0000380. View

20.

Adelhofer N, Gohil K, Passow S, Teufert B, Roessner V, Li S . The system-neurophysiological basis for how methylphenidate modulates perceptual-attentional conflicts during auditory processing. Hum Brain Mapp. 2018; 39(12):5050-5061. PMC: 6866405. DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24344. View