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Authors & Affiliations
Gregory Knoll, Amelia Christensen, Adam Kepecs, Torben Ott
Abstract
Decisions rely on integrating information across sensory systems and internal states. Single neurons in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) typically encode relevant variables for making decisions such as sensory uncertainty and economic value. However, it is unclear whether this neural tuning is idiosyncratic to a specific behavioral context. We investigated to what extent encoding in OFC neural dynamics generalize across contexts, or are context-specific, by analyzing chronic Neuropixels recordings over consecutive sessions in which rats performed two related, but distinct, decision-making tasks. In both tasks, rats discriminated the number of clicks in binaural click streams and received a water reward for correct choices (left or right). In the first decision task, reward sizes were varied in blocks of trials to probe the integration of sensory and reward information. In the second decision task, rats invested time to collect randomly delayed rewards, providing a behavioral report of confidence. Neuronal dynamics during both decision tasks fell into categories with stereotypical activity patterns, including neurons that were tuned to confidence, time investment, or the outcome of a trial. The categories largely persisted across tasks despite task-specific time courses and relevant decision variables. We tracked identical single units across behavioral sessions and found that many neurons maintained consistent category membership. Some neurons altered their activity profiles between tasks, displaying flexibility if the information they carried was no longer relevant. These results suggest that OFC populations form core functional modules across behavioral contexts with flexible tuning if task requirements change.