Jaramillo, S. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2018

Response outcomes gate the impact of expectations on perceptual decisions

Perceptual decisions are not only determined by current sensory information but are also influenced by recent experience. Can the magnitude of expectation-based decision biases be flexibly modulated based on the outcome of previous decisions? We trained rats in several two-alternative forced choice auditory tasks, where the probability to repeat the previous stimulus category was varied in blocks of trials. All rats capitalized on the serial correlations of the stimulus sequence by consistently exploiting a transition bias: a tendency to repeat or alternate their previous response using an internal trial-by-trial estimate of the sequence repeating probability. Surprisingly, this expectation bias was null in trials immediately following an error. The internal estimate however was not reset and it became effective again causing a bias after the next correct response. This ability to rapidly activate and inactivate the bias was captured by a non-linear generative model of rat behavior, whereby a reward-driven modulatory signal gated the use of the latent estimate of the environment statistics on the current decision. These results demonstrate that rats use behavioral outcomes to flexibly modulate how expectations derived from the recent history influence their decisions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2017

Stable representation of sounds in the posterior striatum during flexible auditory decisions

The neuronal pathways that link sounds to rewarded actions remain elusive. It is unclear whether neurons in the posterior tail of the dorsal striatum (which receive direct input from the auditory system) mediate action selection, as other striatal circuits do. Here, we examined the role of posterior striatal neurons in auditory decisions in mice. We found that, in contrast to the anterior dorsal striatum, activation of the posterior striatum did not elicit systematic movement. However, activation of posterior striatal neurons during sound presentation in an auditory discrimination task biased the animals choices, and transient inactivation of these neurons largely impaired sound discrimination. Moreover, the activity of these neurons reliably encoded stimulus features, but was only minimally influenced by the animals choices. Our results suggest that posterior striatal neurons play an essential role in auditory decisions, yet these neurons provide sensory information downstream rather than motor commands during well-learned sound-driven tasks.

neuroscience↗