Topic: decision-making under uncertainty

Successful execution of complex decision-making tasks requires identification and processing of multiple sources of uncertainty, such as sensory uncertainty, mapping uncertainty and outcome uncertainty. The mediodorsal (MD) thalamus is a critical partner for the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in cognitive flexibility and resolving uncertainty in decision making [1,2]. Animal experiments have shown that the MD enhances prefrontal signal-to-noise ratio in decision making under uncertainty [3]. However, the computational mechanisms by which the MD enhances prefrontal activity in decision making under un

Because the world is dynamic and only imperfectly observable, many of the decisions we make are necessarily uncertain. How do we navigate such uncertainty? From the perspective of cognitive neuroscience, the classic answer would be that we evaluate the benefits of each potential choice and then lean towards the one promising the greatest reward, modulo some exploratory noise. Conversely, an ethologist would argue that we would stay with previously rewarding choices until the payout drops below a certain threshold, at which point we start exploring other options. While both hypotheses wield con