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Bias in Prestimulus Motor Cortical Activity Determines Decision-making Error in Rodents
Soyoung Chae1, Duho Sihn1, Sung-Phil Kim1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 44919, Korea.
Experimental Neurobiology
|September 26, 2023
Summary
Decision errors in mice stem from biased neural activity, not faulty sensory processing in the anterior lateral motor cortex. This research clarifies the brain mechanisms behind flawed decision-making.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- The motor cortex is crucial for decision-making, integrating sensory input to guide actions.
- It's unclear if decision errors originate from sensory encoding or utilization issues within the motor cortex.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural basis of erroneous decisions in rodents performing perceptual tasks.
- To differentiate between sensory encoding and choice signal utilization in error trials within the anterior lateral motor cortex (ALM).
Main Methods:
- Analysis of neural population activity in the rodent ALM during delayed-response tasks.
- Separation of neural activity into sensory and choice signals to assess encoding and utilization.
Main Results:
- Sensory information encoding in error trials was comparable to correct (hit) trials.
- Choice signals diverged significantly between error and hit trials, showing pre-stimulus biases in error trials.
- These choice-related biases amplified post-stimulus, leading to incorrect actions.
Conclusions:
- Decision errors are attributed to biases in choice-related neural activity, not flawed sensory encoding.
- Findings provide neural substrates for understanding erroneous decision-making processes.
