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The Attentional Set Shifting Task: A Measure of Cognitive Flexibility in Mice
Published on: February 4, 2015
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Rational inattention in mice
Nikola Grujic1,2, Jeroen Brus2,3, Denis Burdakov1,2
1Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Science Advances
|March 4, 2022
Summary
Mice demonstrate rational inattention by optimizing sensory resource allocation for maximum reward, adapting efficiently to new environments despite imprecise perception of common stimuli.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- Organismal behavior is often perceived as irrational due to inconsistency and bias.
- The underlying mechanisms driving these seemingly suboptimal behaviors are not well understood.
- Understanding resource allocation is key to explaining adaptive behavior under constraints.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how organisms allocate limited processing resources to balance sensory precision and metabolic cost for maximal utility.
- To determine if behavior, even if appearing suboptimal, can be explained by rational principles under neurobiological constraints.
- To reveal the mechanisms of adaptive perception in novel environments.
Main Methods:
- Development of a novel behavioral task and normative framework.
- Analysis of resource allocation strategies in mice within novel stimulus-reward environments.
- Investigation of the role of arousal systems and reinforcement learning in regulating sensory precision.
Main Results:
- Mice function as rational inattentive agents, adaptively allocating sensory resources to maximize reward.
- Perception of frequent stimuli was imprecise, indicating an "awareness" of neurocognitive limitations.
- Reward distribution information is conveyed by arousal systems, regulating sensory precision via top-down normalization.
Conclusions:
- Organisms can efficiently perceive and adapt to novel environments by acting as rational inattentive agents.
- Behavioral "irrationality" can reflect an optimal strategy for managing limited neurobiological resources.
- This framework provides insights into the adaptive nature of perception and decision-making under constraints.
