Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA.
Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA, USA; Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
Neuron. 2021 Jun 2;109(11):1876-1887.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.03.028. Epub 2021 Apr 13.
The ability to adjust one's behavioral strategy in complex environments is at the core of cognition. Doing so efficiently requires monitoring the reliability of the ongoing strategy and, when appropriate, switching away from it to evaluate alternatives. Studies in humans and non-human primates have uncovered signals in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) that reflect the pressure to switch away from the ongoing strategy, whereas other ACC signals relate to the pursuit of alternatives. However, whether these signals underlie computations that actually underpin strategy switching or merely reflect tracking of related variables remains unclear. Here we provide causal evidence that the rodent ACC actively arbitrates between persisting with the ongoing behavioral strategy and temporarily switching away to re-evaluate alternatives. Furthermore, by individually perturbing distinct output pathways, we establish that the two associated computations-determining whether to switch strategy and committing to the pursuit of a specific alternative-are segregated in the ACC microcircuitry.
在复杂环境中调整行为策略的能力是认知的核心。要做到这一点，需要有效地监控正在进行的策略的可靠性，并在适当的时候从该策略切换，以评估替代方案。人类和非人类灵长类动物的研究已经揭示了在前扣带皮层（ACC）中反映出从正在进行的策略中切换的压力的信号，而其他 ACC 信号与追求替代方案有关。然而，这些信号是否是实际支持策略切换的计算的基础，或者仅仅反映了相关变量的跟踪，仍然不清楚。在这里，我们提供了因果证据，证明啮齿动物的 ACC 主动仲裁坚持进行当前行为策略和暂时切换以重新评估替代方案之间的关系。此外，通过单独扰动不同的输出途径，我们确定了两个相关的计算，即确定是否切换策略和承诺追求特定的替代方案，在 ACC 微电路中是分离的。
