Topic: reward-guided behavior

Multiple brain regions are involved in integrating reward to drive action selection, with rich representations of reward history in the striatum, retrosplenial cortex, and frontal areas. A major challenge in dissecting the circuits that govern reward-guided behavior is the existence of multiple strategies for reward maximization. For instance, in dynamic environments, mice can engage in both model-free behavior, where they update action values from trial to trial, and inference-based learning, where they use an internal model to infer the current world state. These two modes are challenging to

A major goal of neuroscience is to discover mathematical models that describe how the brain implements cognitive processes like learning and decision-making. Historically, the field has relied on handcrafted models, often motivated by normative considerations about optimal choice behavior, which are then modified to fit the idiosyncrasies of animal behavior. These models re-quire substantial effort to devise, and are often limited in their ability to fully predict animal behavior. However, these programmatic models provide insight and afford interpretation: variables like“prediction err