Decoupling Choice from Motor Response Reduces Choice-History Effects
Sriram Thothathri1, Bharath Chandra Talluri1,2, S Shushruth3
1Laboratory of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|July 17, 2026
Summary
Choice-response coupling influences how past decisions affect current choices in primates. Tightly linking perception and action enhances history-dependent behavior, while decoupling impairs learning of sequence regularities.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Primate Behavior
- Decision-Making
Background:
- Perception and action are intertwined in environmental interaction.
- Choice-history effects demonstrate how past choices bias current decisions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interdependence of perception and action in choice-history effects.
- To determine if choice-response coupling modulates the influence of past choices on current decisions.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from non-human primates (Macaca mulatta) performing two perceptual decision-making tasks.
- Comparison between 'coupled' (fixed choice-motor mapping) and 'uncoupled' (random mapping) task variants.
- Assessment of choice-history effects and learning of stimulus sequence regularities.
Main Results:
- Primates exhibited larger choice-history effects in the coupled task variant compared to the uncoupled variant.
- Decoupling perception from motor responses impaired the ability to learn experimentally induced stimulus sequence regularities.
- Choice-response coupling significantly shapes history-dependent behavior.
Conclusions:
- Choice-response coupling is a key factor influencing the utilization of recent behavioral history.
- Highlights a strong link between cognitive processes and motor control in decision-making.
Related Concept Videos
01:07Time-Domain Interpretation of PD Control
Proportional-Derivative (PD) control is a widely used control method in various engineering systems to enhance stability and performance. In a system with only proportional control, common issues include high maximum overshoot and oscillation, observed in both the error signal and its rate of change. This behavior can be divided into three distinct phases: initial overshoot, subsequent undershoot, and gradual stabilization.
Consider the example of control of motor torque. Initially, a positive...
Consider the example of control of motor torque. Initially, a positive...
01:18Hierarchy of Motor Control
The hierarchy of motor control refers to the different levels of organization and processing involved in controlling movement in the body. These levels range from higher cortical areas involved in planning and decision-making to lower spinal cord reflexes that respond automatically to external stimuli.
01:22Controller Configurations
Controller configurations are crucial in a car's cruise control system because they manage speed over time to maintain a consistent pace regardless of road conditions, thereby meeting design goals. In traditional control systems, fixed-configuration design involves predetermined controller placement. System performance modifications are known as compensation.
Control-system compensation involves various configurations, most commonly series or cascade compensation, in which the controller aligns...
Control-system compensation involves various configurations, most commonly series or cascade compensation, in which the controller aligns...
01:19Electro-mechanical Systems
Electromechanical systems are intricate configurations that effectively combine electrical and mechanical elements to achieve a desired outcome. Central to many of these systems is the DC motor, a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical motion, enabling various applications ranging from simple fans to complex robotic mechanisms.
A key component of the DC motor is the armature, a rotating circuit positioned within a magnetic field. As an electric current passes through the...
A key component of the DC motor is the armature, a rotating circuit positioned within a magnetic field. As an electric current passes through the...
01:20Types of Damping
If the amount of damping in a system is gradually increased, the period and frequency start to become affected because damping opposes, and hence slows, the back and forth motion (the net force is smaller in both directions). If there is a very large amount of damping, the system does not even oscillate; instead, it slowly moves toward equilibrium. In brief, an overdamped system moves slowly towards equilibrium, whereas an underdamped system moves quickly to equilibrium but will oscillate about...
01:34Woodward–Hoffmann Selection Rules and Microscopic Reversibility
Electrocyclic reactions, cycloadditions, and sigmatropic rearrangements are concerted pericyclic reactions that proceed via a cyclic transition state. These reactions are stereospecific and regioselective. The stereochemistry of the products depends on the symmetry characteristics of the interacting orbitals and the reaction conditions. Accordingly, pericyclic reactions are classified as either symmetry-allowed or symmetry-forbidden. Woodward and Hoffmann presented the selection criteria for...