Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells from the University of Barcelona visits MIB and gives talk on language and music learning.

28.11.2016 | Hella Kastbjerg

TITLE:
THE INTRINSIC REWARD OF LANGUAGE AND MUSIC LEARNING

SPEAKER:

Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells, PhD
Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit (www.brainvitge.org)
ICREA- University of BarcelonaI
DIBELL - Institut de Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge

ABSTRACT:
During the last decade we have accrued important knowledge regarding the neural networks involved in the hard process of language acquisition. However, it is still unknown which are the neural process underlying the human drive to learn a language. Recent theoretical models have proposed that during human evolution, emerging language-learning mechanisms might have been glued to phylogenetically older subcortical reward systems, reinforcing human motivation to learn a new language. Supporting this hypothesis we recently showed that adult learners exhibited robust functional MRI activation in the ventral striatum —a core region of reward processing —when successfully learning the meaning of new words. These results provided the first neural evidences of the important role of reward and motivation during language learning and supporting the idea that the strong coupling between neocortical language  regions  and  the subcortical reward system provided a crucial advantage in humans for successfully acquire linguistic skills. Furthermore, we recently showed that successful language learning (without the presence of external feedback) boosted also the activation of reward-memory circuits [substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area complex (SN/VTA), and the hippocampus (HP)]. Thus, intrinsic driven learning seems to be strongly coupled with subserving reward-memory processes needed to ensure future recall success. We believe this intrinsically motivated-learning mechanism might be crucial for boosting formation of long-term memories, specially in our everyday lives, as we continually acquire new knowledge in the absence of any obvious immediate reward.

An interesting question that arises is to what extent a similar intrinsic motivation-reward learning mechanism is engaged during music processing and music learning. In order to explore this hypothesis, we conducted two research projects. First, in an on-going motor music neurorehabilitation RCT trial in acute stroke patients we evaluated to which extent, individual differences in the capacity to experience reward (evaluated using the Barcelona Reward Music Questionnaire) through music influenced the outcome of the therapy (motor improvement). In a second study, we aimed to test the idea that music-experienced reward responses could modulate episodic memory via the participation of the SN/VTA - hippocampal-dependent dopaminergic circuit. The results showed a clear relation between music reward and episodic memory formation.

A key question for the future is whether tapping into intrinsically rewarding forms of learning might be a more effective educational strategy than relying on external feedback and incentives. This could be crucial to improving the design of educational programs – for example, in teaching music and foreign languages – and for improving the recovery of verbal skills lost after stroke.

REFERENCES:
·          Lopez-Barroso, D., Catani, M., Ripolles, P., Dell’Acqua, F., Rodriguez-Fornells, A., de Diego-Balaguer, R. (2013). Word learning is mediated by the left arcuate fasciculus. PNAS, 110, 13168-73.

·          Mas-Herrero, E., Marco-Pallares, J., Lorenzo-Seva, U., Zatorre, R., Rodriguez-Fornells, A. (2013). Individual differences in Music Reward experiences. Music Perception, 31, 118–138.

·          Ripolles, P., Marco-Pallares, J., Hielscher, U., Mestres-Misse, A., Tempelmann, C., Heinze HJ., Rodriguez-Fornells, A., & Noesselt, T. (2014). The Role of Reward in Word Learning and its Implications for Language Acquisition. Current Biology, 24, 2606-2611.

·          Ripolles, P., Marco-Pallares, J., Alicart, H., Tempelmann, Rodriguez-Fornells, A., Noesselt, T. (2016). Intrinsic monitoring of learning success facilitates memory encoding via the activation of the SN/VTA-hippocampal loop. eLife, 5,e17441.

·          Ripolles P, Rojo N, Grau-Sanchez J., Amengual JL, Camara E., Marco-Pallarés J, Juncadella, M., Vaquero L., Rubio F., Duarte E., Garrido C., Altenmuller E, Münte TF, Rodríguez-Fornells A. (2016). Music supported therapy promotes motor plasticity in individuals with chronic stroke. Brain Imaging and Behavior, 10, 1289-1307.

·          Rodriguez-Fornells, A., Cunillera, T., Mestres-Misse, A., de Diego Balaguer, R. (2009). Neurophysiological mechanisms involved in language learning in adults. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 364, 3711–3735.