Transient photocurrents in a subthreshold evidence accumulator accelerate perceptual decisions

Perceptual decisions are complete when a continuously updated score of sensory evidence reaches a threshold. In Drosophila, αβ core Kenyon cells (αβ_c KCs) of the mushroom bodies integrate odor-evoked synaptic inputs to spike threshold at rates that parallel the speed of olfactory choices. Here we perform a causal test of the idea that the biophysical process of synaptic integration underlies the psychophysical process of bounded evidence accumulation in this system. Injections of single brief, EPSP-like depolarizations into the dendrites of αβ_c KCs during odor discrimination, using closed-loop control of a targeted opsin, accelerate decision times at a marginal cost of accuracy. Model comparisons favor a mechanism of temporal integration over extrema detection and suggest that the optogenetically evoked quanta are added to a growing total of sensory evidence, effectively lowering the decision bound. The subthreshold voltage dynamics of αβ_c KCs thus form an accumulator memory for sequential samples of information.