Topic: action values

In reversal learning tasks, large-scale circuits in multiple brain areas are involved in encoding multiple decision variables, such as trial outcomes, action values and action switching. It is unknown how spatiotemporal patterns of cortical encoding differentially encode these variables and whether the encoding depends on the level of engagement in the task. Here, we used a combination of large-scale imaging techniques and computational methods to investigate the representation of reward-related decision variables at the widefield and single-neuron levels. Widefield imaging and unsupervised an

How does the activity of midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons influence behavior? A prominent, but incompletely tested, hypothesis is that the activity of ventral tegmental area (VTA) DA neurons generates downstream representations of state values in ventral striatum (NAc), while substantia nigra pars compacta DA activity generates action values in the dorsal striatum. To test this model, we performed Neuropixels recordings in a trial-and-error probabilistic learning task where mice continuously adapted their choices to obtain a reward of optogenetic stimulation of VTA DA neurons (paired with an aud

Adaptive behavior in a dynamically changing environment requires learning the value of actions, and updating these values in response to changes in the environment. Several studies have investigated the role of the striatum, and its key neuromodulators, dopamine (DA) and acetylcholine (Ach), in this process. However, these studies usually investigated these neuromodulatory signals in animals which had undergone extensive pre-training, and were thus experts at flexibly adapting to new action values. In addition, most of these studies did not explore the dynamics of these signals simultaneously,