Value representation in youth psychopathology: evidence of a transdiagnostic risk mechanism for psychosis (opens in new tab)

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia are associated with deficits in representing the value of actions, observed in reinforcement learning (RL) tasks as impaired learning from gains but intact learning from losses. This RL profile contrasts with depression, where enhanced loss sensitivity is common. Whether a schizophrenia-like RL pattern characterizes youth at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis – who show modest psychosis transition rates but high rates of co-occurring depression – remains...