Same lesson, varied choices by frontal cortex

In an unfamiliar situation, animals display variable choice behavior. Based on computational modeling and empirical data, a new study suggests that the variability in decision-making across individuals is driven by differences in internal neural dynamics in the medial frontal cortex.

[1]  E. Marder,et al.  Similar network activity from disparate circuit parameters , 2004, Nature Neuroscience.

[2]  Daeyeol Lee,et al.  Role of rodent secondary motor cortex in value-based action selection , 2011, Nature Neuroscience.

[3]  D. Durstewitz,et al.  Abrupt Transitions between Prefrontal Neural Ensemble States Accompany Behavioral Transitions during Rule Learning , 2010, Neuron.

[4]  Byron M. Yu,et al.  Neural Variability in Premotor Cortex Provides a Signature of Motor Preparation , 2006, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[5]  Z. Mainen,et al.  Distinct Sources of Deterministic and Stochastic Components of Action Timing Decisions in Rodent Frontal Cortex , 2016, Neuron.

[6]  A. Kwan,et al.  Secondary Motor Cortex: Where ‘Sensory’ Meets ‘Motor’ in the Rodent Frontal Cortex , 2017, Trends in Neurosciences.

[7]  Rafael Yuste,et al.  Altered Cortical Ensembles in Mouse Models of Schizophrenia , 2017, Neuron.

[8]  Christopher J. Cueva,et al.  Dynamics of Neural Population Responses in Prefrontal Cortex Indicate Changes of Mind on Single Trials , 2014, Current Biology.

[9]  Xiao-Jing Wang Decision Making in Recurrent Neuronal Circuits , 2008, Neuron.

[10]  Laura Waller,et al.  Precise multimodal optical control of neural ensemble activity , 2018, Nature Neuroscience.

[11]  Byron M. Yu,et al.  Neural constraints on learning , 2014, Nature.

[12]  M. Siniscalchi,et al.  Fast and slow transitions in frontal ensemble activity during flexible sensorimotor behavior , 2016, Nature Neuroscience.

[13]  Peter Ford Dominey,et al.  Reservoir Computing Properties of Neural Dynamics in Prefrontal Cortex , 2016, PLoS Comput. Biol..

[14]  T. Fukai,et al.  Neuronal stability in medial frontal cortex sets individual variability in decision-making , 2018, Nature Neuroscience.

[15]  Ari S. Morcos,et al.  History-dependent variability in population dynamics during evidence accumulation in cortex , 2016, Nature Neuroscience.