Data from: Intrinsically regulated learning is modulated by synaptic dopamine signaling

We recently provided evidence that an intrinsic reward-related signal-triggered by successful learning in absence of any external feedback-modulated the entrance of new information into long-term memory via the activation of the dopaminergic midbrain, hippocampus, and ventral striatum (the SN/VTA-Hippocampal loop; Ripollés et al., 2016). Here, we used a double-blind, within-subject randomized pharmacological intervention to test whether this learning process is indeed dopamine-dependent. A group of healthy individuals completed three behavioral sessions of a language-learning task after the intake of different pharmacological treatments: a dopaminergic precursor, a dopamine receptor antagonist or a placebo. Results show that the pharmacological intervention modulated behavioral measures of both learning and pleasantness, inducing memory benefits after 24 hours only for those participants with a high sensitivity to reward. These results provide causal evide nce for a dopamine-dependent mechanism instrumental in intrinsically regulated learning and further suggest that subject-specific reward sensitivity drastically alters learning success.Behavioral data for learning and memory scores, subjective ratings for the main learning conditionThis file contains the mean learning and memory scores (percentage of words learned on Day 1, Total number of words remembered on Day 2, Recognition rate on Day 2) and subjective ratings (Pleasantness, Arousal, Confidence) for the main learning condition (M+; the condition in which participants could actually learn the meaning of a word using the congruent context provided by two sentences). The file also contains demographic data (age, sex, weight) and the results of the Physical Anhedonia Scale (PAS)Behavioral_ThreeSessions_MainLearningCondition.xls