DePasquale Brian, Brody Carlos D, Pillow Jonathan W
Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, United States.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, United States.
Elife. 2024 Aug 20;13:e84955. doi: 10.7554/eLife.84955.
Accumulating evidence to make decisions is a core cognitive function. Previous studies have tended to estimate accumulation using either neural or behavioral data alone. Here, we develop a unified framework for modeling stimulus-driven behavior and multi-neuron activity simultaneously. We applied our method to choices and neural recordings from three rat brain regions-the posterior parietal cortex (PPC), the frontal orienting fields (FOF), and the anterior-dorsal striatum (ADS)-while subjects performed a pulse-based accumulation task. Each region was best described by a distinct accumulation model, which all differed from the model that best described the animal's choices. FOF activity was consistent with an accumulator where early evidence was favored while the ADS reflected near perfect accumulation. Neural responses within an accumulation framework unveiled a distinct association between each brain region and choice. Choices were better predicted from all regions using a comprehensive, accumulation-based framework and different brain regions were found to differentially reflect choice-related accumulation signals: FOF and ADS both reflected choice but ADS showed more instances of decision vacillation. Previous studies relating neural data to behaviorally inferred accumulation dynamics have implicitly assumed that individual brain regions reflect the whole-animal level accumulator. Our results suggest that different brain regions represent accumulated evidence in dramatically different ways and that accumulation at the whole-animal level may be constructed from a variety of neural-level accumulators.
积累证据以做出决策是一种核心认知功能。以往的研究往往仅使用神经数据或行为数据来估计积累过程。在此，我们开发了一个统一框架，用于同时对刺激驱动的行为和多神经元活动进行建模。我们将我们的方法应用于大鼠三个脑区——顶叶后皮质（PPC）、额叶定向场（FOF）和背侧前纹状体（ADS）——的选择和神经记录，同时让受试者执行基于脉冲的积累任务。每个区域都由一个独特的积累模型得到最佳描述，所有这些模型都与最能描述动物选择的模型不同。FOF活动与一个早期证据更受青睐的累加器一致，而ADS则反映了近乎完美的积累过程。在一个积累框架内的神经反应揭示了每个脑区与选择之间的独特关联。使用一个全面的、基于积累的框架能更好地从所有区域预测选择，并且发现不同的脑区以不同方式反映与选择相关的积累信号：FOF和ADS都反映了选择，但ADS显示出更多决策犹豫的情况。以往将神经数据与行为推断的积累动态相关联的研究隐含地假设个体脑区反映了全动物水平的累加器。我们的结果表明，不同的脑区以截然不同的方式表征积累的证据，并且全动物水平的积累可能由多种神经水平的累加器构建而成。
