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Neural circuits and neuronal pools are two of the main structures found in the nervous system. Neural circuits are networks of neurons that work together to carry out a specific task or process. They consist of interconnected neurons and glial cells, which provide structural and metabolic support.
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A distributed and efficient population code of mixed selectivity neurons for flexible navigation decisions.

Shinichiro Kira¹, Houman Safaai^1,2, Ari S Morcos¹

¹Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Nature Communications

|April 13, 2023

Summary

Mice decision-making flexibility relies on neurons mixing visual and memory information. This neural flexibility, crucial for navigation, involves the visual cortex, parietal cortex, and retrosplenial cortex.

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Integrating Visual Psychophysical Assays within a Y-Maze to Isolate the Role that Visual Features Play in Navigational Decisions

Integrating Visual Psychophysical Assays within a Y-Maze to Isolate the Role that Visual Features Play in Navigational Decisions

Published on: May 2, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Systems Neuroscience

Background:

Decision-making requires cognitive flexibility to adapt actions based on sensory input and memory.
Rapidly switching navigation strategies based on remembered information is a key aspect of flexible decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

To identify cortical areas and neural activity patterns enabling behavioral flexibility in decision-making during virtual navigation.
To investigate the role of specific neural populations in integrating current sensory cues with stored memory for adaptive choices.

Main Methods:

Utilized virtual navigation tasks in mice to study decision-making flexibility.
Employed optogenetics screening to identify brain regions critical for accurate choices.
Applied calcium imaging to record neural activity and identify neurons encoding mixed sensory and memory information.

Main Results:

Optogenetics identified V1, posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and retrosplenial cortex (RSC) as essential for decision accuracy.
Calcium imaging revealed mixed-selectivity neurons integrating current and remembered visual cues, mediating rapid navigation switches.
These neurons emerged with task learning, predicted choices via efficient population codes, and were distributed across the posterior cortex, notably in RSC and PPC.

Conclusions:

Flexible navigation decisions depend on neurons that combine visual and memory information.
A visual-parietal-retrosplenial network, featuring mixed-selectivity neurons, underlies cognitive flexibility in decision-making.