Mugan Ugurcan, Hoffman Samantha L, Redish A David
Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA.
Neuron. 2024 Dec 18;112(24):4096-4114.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2024.10.004. Epub 2024 Oct 29.
Behavior in naturalistic scenarios occurs in diverse environments. Adaptive strategies rely on multiple neural circuits and competing decision systems. However, past studies of rodent decision making have largely measured behavior in simple environments. To fill this gap, we recorded neural ensembles from hippocampus (HC), dorsolateral striatum (DLS), and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) while rats foraged for food under changing rules in environments with varying topological complexity. Environmental complexity increased behavioral variability, lengthened HC nonlocal sequences, and modulated action caching. We found contrasting representations between DLS and HC, supporting a competition between decision systems. dmPFC activity was indicative of setting this balance, in particular predicting the extent of HC non-local coding. Inactivating mPFC impaired short-term behavioral adaptation and produced long-term deficits in balancing decision systems. Our findings reveal the dynamic nature of decision-making systems and how environmental complexity modulates their engagement with implications for behavior in naturalistic environments.
自然主义场景中的行为发生在多样的环境中。适应性策略依赖于多个神经回路和相互竞争的决策系统。然而，过去对啮齿动物决策的研究大多在简单环境中测量行为。为了填补这一空白，我们记录了大鼠在拓扑复杂性各异的环境中，按照不断变化的规则觅食时海马体（HC）、背外侧纹状体（DLS）和背内侧前额叶皮层（dmPFC）的神经集群活动。环境复杂性增加了行为变异性，延长了海马体的非局部序列，并调节了行动缓存。我们发现背外侧纹状体和海马体之间存在对比性表征，支持了决策系统之间的竞争。背内侧前额叶皮层的活动表明其在设定这种平衡，特别是预测海马体非局部编码的程度。使内侧前额叶皮层失活会损害短期行为适应性，并在平衡决策系统方面产生长期缺陷。我们的研究结果揭示了决策系统的动态性质，以及环境复杂性如何调节它们的参与，这对自然主义环境中的行为具有重要意义。
