Topic: optimal performance states

Recent studies show that behaving animals transition between discrete strategies during sensory decision-making and that arousal modulates task performance. However, it remains a challenge to understand (i) the relationships between arousal and task strategy during sensory discrimination and (ii) the neural mechanisms underlying optimal performance states. To address these topics, we combined behavioral, neurophysiological, and computational approaches to uncover the neural mechanisms underlying arousal-dependent sensory discrimination. We implemented two-alternative-choice tasks, prompting mi