Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Neuron. 2023 Nov 15;111(22):3683-3696.e7. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.08.009. Epub 2023 Sep 6.
Behavior-related neuronal signals often vary between neurons, which might reflect the unreliability of individual neurons or a truly heterogeneous code. This notion may also apply to economic ("value-based") choices and the underlying reward signals. Reward value is subjective and can be described by a nonlinearly weighted magnitude (utility) and probability. Defining subjective values relies on the continuity axiom, whose testing involves structured variations of a wide range of reward magnitudes and probabilities. Axiom compliance demonstrates understanding of the stimuli and the meaningful character of choices. Using these tests, we investigated the encoding of subjective economic value by neurons in a key economic-decision structure of the monkey brain, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). We found that individual neurons carry heterogeneous neuronal value signals that largely fail to match the animal's choices. However, neuronal population signals matched the animal's choices well, suggesting accurate subjective economic value encoding by a heterogeneous population of unreliable neurons.
行为相关的神经元信号在神经元之间经常变化，这可能反映了单个神经元的不可靠性或真正的异质性编码。这种概念也可能适用于经济（“基于价值”）选择和潜在的奖励信号。奖励价值是主观的，可以用非线性加权幅度（效用）和概率来描述。定义主观价值依赖于连续性公理，其测试涉及广泛的奖励幅度和概率的结构化变化。公理一致性表明对刺激的理解和选择的有意义性质。使用这些测试，我们研究了猴子大脑中关键经济决策结构眶额皮层（OFC）中神经元对主观经济价值的编码。我们发现，单个神经元携带的神经元价值信号存在很大的异质性，与动物的选择不匹配。然而，神经元群体信号与动物的选择非常吻合，这表明由一群不可靠的神经元组成的异质群体能够准确地编码主观经济价值。
