当前位置: X-MOL 学术J. Neurosci. › 论文详情
Our official English website, www.x-mol.net, welcomes your feedback! (Note: you will need to create a separate account there.)
Rat Anterior Cingulate Cortex Continuously Signals Decision Variables in a Patch Foraging Task
Journal of Neuroscience ( IF 5.3 ) Pub Date : 2022-07-20 , DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1940-21.2022
Gary A Kane 1, 2 , Morgan H James 3, 4 , Amitai Shenhav 5 , Nathaniel D Daw 6 , Jonathan D Cohen 6 , Gary Aston-Jones 4
Affiliation  

In patch foraging tasks, animals must decide whether to remain with a depleting resource or to leave it in search of a potentially better source of reward. In such tasks, animals consistently follow the general predictions of optimal foraging theory (the marginal value theorem; MVT): to leave a patch when the reward rate in the current patch depletes to the average reward rate across patches. Prior studies implicate an important role for the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in foraging decisions based on MVT: within single trials, ACC activity increases immediately preceding foraging decisions, and across trials, these dynamics are modulated as the value of staying in the patch depletes to the average reward rate. Here, we test whether these activity patterns reflect dynamic encoding of decision-variables and whether these signals are directly involved in decision-making. We developed a leaky accumulator model based on the MVT that generates estimates of decision variables within and across trials, and tested model predictions against ACC activity recorded from male rats performing a patch foraging task. Model predicted changes in MVT decision variables closely matched rat ACC activity. Next, we pharmacologically inactivated ACC in male rats to test the contribution of these signals to decision-making. ACC inactivation had a profound effect on rats' foraging decisions and response times (RTs) yet rats still followed the MVT decision rule. These findings indicate that the ACC encodes foraging-related variables for reasons unrelated to patch-leaving decisions.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ability to make adaptive patch-foraging decisions, to remain with a depleting resource or search for better alternatives, is critical to animal well-being. Previous studies have found that anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) activity is modulated at different points in the foraging decision process, raising questions about whether the ACC guides ongoing decisions or serves a more general purpose of regulating cognitive control. To investigate the function of the ACC in foraging, the present study developed a dynamic model of behavior and neural activity, and tested model predictions using recordings and inactivation of ACC. Findings revealed that ACC continuously signals decision variables but that these signals are more likely used to monitor and regulate ongoing processes than to guide foraging decisions.



中文翻译:

大鼠前扣带皮层在补丁觅食任务中连续发出决策变量信号

在斑块觅食任务中,动物必须决定是继续使用资源枯竭还是离开以寻找可能更好的奖励来源。在此类任务中,动物始终遵循最佳觅食理论(边际价值定理;MVT)的一般预测:当当前斑块中的奖励率耗尽到跨斑块的平均奖励率时,动物会留下斑块。先前的研究暗示了前扣带回皮层 (ACC) 在基于 MVT 的觅食决策中的重要作用:在单次试验中,ACC 活动在觅食决策之前立即增加,并且在整个试验中,随着留在斑块中的价值耗尽,这些动态被调节到平均奖励率。这里,我们测试这些活动模式是否反映了决策变量的动态编码,以及这些信号是否直接参与决策。我们开发了一个基于 MVT 的泄漏蓄能器模型,该模型生成试验内和试验间决策变量的估计值,并测试了模型对执行斑块觅食任务的雄性大鼠记录的 ACC 活动的预测。模型预测 MVT 决策变量的变化与大鼠 ACC 活动密切相关。接下来,我们通过药理学方法使雄性大鼠的 ACC 失活,以测试这些信号对决策的贡献。ACC 失活对老鼠的觅食决定和反应时间 (RT) 有深远影响,但老鼠仍然遵循 MVT 决定规则。这些发现表明,ACC 出于与补丁离开决策无关的原因对觅食相关变量进行编码。

重要性声明做出适应性斑块觅食决策的能力,留在资源枯竭或寻找更好的替代品,对动物福祉至关重要。先前的研究发现,前扣带皮层 (ACC) 活动在觅食决策过程的不同点受到调节,这引发了关于 ACC 是否指导正在进行的决策或服务于调节认知控制的更一般目的的问题。为了研究 ACC 在觅食中的功能,本研究开发了行为和神经活动的动态模型,并使用 ACC 的记录和失活测试了模型预测。调查结果显示,ACC 不断发出决策变量信号,但这些信号更有可能用于监控和调节正在进行的过程,而不是指导觅食决策。

更新日期:2022-07-21
down
wechat
bug