110. Sign- And Goal-Tracking in Human Alcohol Dependence

Many addictive drugs are thought to control intake via Pavlovian cues. Indeed, we found Pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT) to be enhanced in dependent patients. PIT is also enhanced in “sign-tracker” individuals, who approach cues during Pavlovian conditioning using model-free learning, whereas “goal-tracker” individuals, who approach the reward location using model-based learning, show reduced PIT. Addiction may relate to model-free sign-tracking, as was found in rodents. However, how sign- and goal-tracking relates to human alcohol use is unknown.