Reward Valuation in Large Language Models: Causal Induction of Anhedonia
Recent frontier models mimic complex aspects of human cognition. Here we ask whether this alignment extends into reward valuation, which we assess in a mechanistic framework. Specifically, we use clinical tests that were developed to evaluate anhedonia in human subjects with major depressive disorders. Mechanistically, anhedonia is frequently associated with dysregulation in the Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) and the broader dopaminergic reward system. While neuroimaging has localized these deficits, establishing a causal link between NAc activity and specific behavioral symptoms remains a challenge. We use these ideas from neuroscience to functionally identify reward-anticipatory units in state...
| Authors | Melika Honarmand, Samin Mahdipour Aghabagher, Martin Schrimpf |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.LG |
| Published | 7 July 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 30 September 2026 |
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