Bukwich Michael, Campbell Malcolm G, Zoltowski David, Kingsbury Lyle, Tomov Momchil S, Stern Joshua, Kim HyungGoo R, Drugowitsch Jan, Linderman Scott W, Uchida Naoshige
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, University College London, London W1T 4JG, UK.
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Neuron. 2025 Aug 6. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.07.008.
Patch foraging is a ubiquitous decision-making process in which animals decide when to abandon a resource patch of diminishing value to pursue an alternative. We developed a virtual foraging task in which mouse behavior varied systematically with patch value. Behavior could be explained by models integrating time and rewards antagonistically, scaled by a slowly varying latent patience state. Describing a mechanism rather than a normative prescription, these models quantitatively captured deviations from optimal foraging theory. Neuropixels recordings throughout frontal areas revealed distributed ramping signals, concentrated in the frontal cortex, from which multiple integrator models' decision variables could be decoded equally well. These signals reflected key aspects of decision models: they ramped gradually, responded oppositely to time and rewards, were sensitive to patch richness, and retained memory of reward history. Together, these results identify integration via frontal cortex ramping dynamics as a candidate mechanism for solving patch-foraging problems.
斑块觅食是一种普遍存在的决策过程，动物在这个过程中决定何时放弃价值递减的资源斑块去寻找其他选择。我们开发了一种虚拟觅食任务，其中小鼠的行为会随着斑块价值而系统地变化。行为可以通过将时间和奖励进行拮抗整合的模型来解释，并由一个缓慢变化的潜在耐心状态进行缩放。这些模型描述的是一种机制而非规范性的规定，它们定量地捕捉了与最优觅食理论的偏差。贯穿额叶区域的神经像素记录揭示了分布的斜坡信号，这些信号集中在额叶皮质，多个积分器模型的决策变量都能同样良好地从中解码出来。这些信号反映了决策模型的关键方面：它们逐渐上升，对时间和奖励的反应相反，对斑块丰富度敏感，并保留了奖励历史的记忆。总之，这些结果表明，通过额叶皮质斜坡动力学进行整合是解决斑块觅食问题的一种候选机制。
