Information-integration category learning in patients with striatal dysfunction

Information-integration category learning was examined in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and in healthy control participants in 2 different conditions. In the linear condition, optimal categorization required a nonverbalizable linear integration of information from the 2 stimulus dimensions, whereas in the nonlinear condition, a nonlinear integration of information was required. Each participant completed 600 trials in each condition and was given corrective feedback following each trial. Results indicated that PD patients were not impaired in the linear condition across all trials, whereas the same patients were impaired in the nonlinear condition, but only later in training. The authors conducted model-based analyses to identify participants who used an information-integration approach, and a comparison of the accuracy rates of those individuals further revealed a specific deficit in information-integration category learning in patients with PD. These findings suggest that the striatum may be particularly involved in information-integration category learning when the rule is highly complex.