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Microstimulation of macaque area LIP affects decision-making in a motion discrimination task
Timothy D Hanks1, Jochen Ditterich, Michael N Shadlen
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Primate Research Center, and Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.
Nature Neuroscience
|April 11, 2006
Summary
Neural activity in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) influences decision-making. Stimulating LIP neurons altered choices and reaction times in a motion discrimination task, proving their causal role.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neurophysiology
Background:
- Understanding decision-making neural mechanisms is key in cognitive neuroscience.
- Association areas, including the lateral intraparietal area (LIP), are implicated in decision processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causal role of lateral intraparietal area (LIP) neurons in decision-making.
- To determine if microstimulation of LIP affects performance in a motion discrimination task.
Main Methods:
- Monkeys performed a reaction-time motion discrimination task with a saccadic response.
- Electrical microstimulation was applied to identified clusters of LIP neurons.
- The effects of microstimulation on choice proportion and reaction time were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Microstimulation of LIP neurons increased choices toward the neurons' response fields.
- Choices toward the stimulated response field were faster, while opposite choices were slower.
- Microstimulation did not directly evoke saccades or alter reaction times in a simple saccade task.
Conclusions:
- The discharge of LIP neurons is causally linked to decision formation.
- LIP plays a critical role in the process of making perceptual decisions.
