1
|
Yang Z, Inagaki M, Gerfen C, Fontolan L, Inagaki HK. The frontal cortex adjusts striatal integrator dynamics for flexible motor timing. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.29.601348. [PMID: 39005437 PMCID: PMC11244898 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.29.601348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
Flexible control of motor timing is crucial for behavior. Before movement begins, the frontal cortex and striatum exhibit ramping spiking activity, with variable ramp slopes anticipating movement onsets. This activity may function as an adjustable 'timer,' triggering actions at the desired timing. However, because the frontal cortex and striatum share similar ramping dynamics and are both necessary for timing behaviors, distinguishing their individual roles in this timer function remains challenging. To address this, we conducted perturbation experiments combined with multi-regional electrophysiology in mice performing a lick-timing task. Following transient silencing of the frontal cortex, cortical and striatal activity swiftly returned to pre-silencing levels and resumed ramping, leading to a shift in lick timing close to the silencing duration. Conversely, briefly inhibiting the striatum caused a gradual decrease in ramping activity in both regions, with ramping resuming from post-inhibition levels, shifting lick timing beyond the inhibition duration. Thus, inhibiting the frontal cortex and striatum effectively paused and rewound the timer, respectively. Additionally, the frontal cortex, but not the striatum, encodes trial-history information guiding lick timing. These findings suggest specialized functional allocations within the forebrain: the striatum temporally integrates input from the frontal cortex to generate ramping activity that regulates motor timing.
Collapse
|
2
|
Verwey WB. C-SMB 2.0: Integrating over 25 years of motor sequencing research with the Discrete Sequence Production task. Psychon Bull Rev 2024; 31:931-978. [PMID: 37848660 PMCID: PMC11192694 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02377-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 10/19/2023]
Abstract
An exhaustive review is reported of over 25 years of research with the Discrete Sequence Production (DSP) task as reported in well over 100 articles. In line with the increasing call for theory development, this culminates into proposing the second version of the Cognitive framework of Sequential Motor Behavior (C-SMB 2.0), which brings together known models from cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and motor learning. This processing framework accounts for the many different behavioral results obtained with the DSP task and unveils important properties of the cognitive system. C-SMB 2.0 assumes that a versatile central processor (CP) develops multimodal, central-symbolic representations of short motor segments by repeatedly storing the elements of these segments in short-term memory (STM). Independently, the repeated processing by modality-specific perceptual and motor processors (PPs and MPs) and by the CP when executing sequences gradually associates successively used representations at each processing level. The high dependency of these representations on active context information allows for the rapid serial activation of the sequence elements as well as for the executive control of tasks as a whole. Speculations are eventually offered as to how the various cognitive processes could plausibly find their neural underpinnings within the intricate networks of the brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Willem B Verwey
- Department of Learning, Data-Analytics and Technology, Section Cognition, Data and Education, Faculty of Behavioral, Management and Social sciences, University of Twente, PO Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, the Netherlands.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Clapp M, Bahuguna J, Giossi C, Rubin JE, Verstynen T, Vich C. CBGTPy: An extensible cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic framework for modeling biological decision making. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.09.05.556301. [PMID: 37732280 PMCID: PMC10508778 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.05.556301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/22/2023]
Abstract
Here we introduce CBGTPy, a virtual environment for designing and testing goal-directed agents with internal dynamics that are modeled on the cortico-basal-ganglia-thalamic (CBGT) pathways in the mammalian brain. CBGTPy enables researchers to investigate the internal dynamics of the CBGT system during a variety of tasks, allowing for the formation of testable predictions about animal behavior and neural activity. The framework has been designed around the principle of flexibility, such that many experimental parameters in a decision making paradigm can be easily defined and modified. Here we demonstrate the capabilities of CBGTPy across a range of single and multi-choice tasks, highlighting the ease of set up and the biologically realistic behavior that it produces. We show that CBGTPy is extensible enough to apply to a range of experimental protocols and to allow for the implementation of model extensions with minimal developmental effort. Author summary We introduce a toolbox for producing biologically realistic simulations of the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic dynamics during a variety of experimental tasks. The purpose is to foster the theory-experiment cycle, offering a tool for generating testable predictions of behavioral and neural responses that can be validated experimentally, in a framework that allows for simple updating as new experimental evidence emerges. We outline how our toolbox works and demonstrate its performance on a set of normative cognitive tasks.
Collapse
|
4
|
Johansson ME, Toni I, Kessels RPC, Bloem BR, Helmich RC. Clinical severity in Parkinson's disease is determined by decline in cortical compensation. Brain 2024; 147:871-886. [PMID: 37757883 PMCID: PMC10907095 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Dopaminergic dysfunction in the basal ganglia, particularly in the posterior putamen, is often viewed as the primary pathological mechanism behind motor slowing (i.e. bradykinesia) in Parkinson's disease. However, striatal dopamine loss fails to account for interindividual differences in motor phenotype and rate of decline, implying that the expression of motor symptoms depends on additional mechanisms, some of which may be compensatory in nature. Building on observations of increased motor-related activity in the parieto-premotor cortex of Parkinson patients, we tested the hypothesis that interindividual differences in clinical severity are determined by compensatory cortical mechanisms and not just by basal ganglia dysfunction. Using functional MRI, we measured variability in motor- and selection-related brain activity during a visuomotor task in 353 patients with Parkinson's disease (≤5 years disease duration) and 60 healthy controls. In this task, we manipulated action selection demand by varying the number of possible actions that individuals could choose from. Clinical variability was characterized in two ways. First, patients were categorized into three previously validated, discrete clinical subtypes that are hypothesized to reflect distinct routes of α-synuclein propagation: diffuse-malignant (n = 42), intermediate (n = 128) or mild motor-predominant (n = 150). Second, we used the scores of bradykinesia severity and cognitive performance across the entire sample as continuous measures. Patients showed motor slowing (longer response times) and reduced motor-related activity in the basal ganglia compared with controls. However, basal ganglia activity did not differ between clinical subtypes and was not associated with clinical scores. This indicates a limited role for striatal dysfunction in shaping interindividual differences in clinical severity. Consistent with our hypothesis, we observed enhanced action selection-related activity in the parieto-premotor cortex of patients with a mild-motor predominant subtype, both compared to patients with a diffuse-malignant subtype and controls. Furthermore, increased parieto-premotor activity was related to lower bradykinesia severity and better cognitive performance, which points to a compensatory role. We conclude that parieto-premotor compensation, rather than basal ganglia dysfunction, shapes interindividual variability in symptom severity in Parkinson's disease. Future interventions may focus on maintaining and enhancing compensatory cortical mechanisms, rather than only attempting to normalize basal ganglia dysfunction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Martin E Johansson
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Centre of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Ivan Toni
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Roy P C Kessels
- Department of Medical Psychology, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Radboudumc Alzheimer Center, Radboud University Medical Center, 6525 GA Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Vincent van Gogh Institute for Psychiatry, 5803 AC Venray, The Netherlands
| | - Bastiaan R Bloem
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Centre of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Rick C Helmich
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Centre of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Hage P, Jang IK, Looi V, Fakharian MA, Orozco SP, Pi JS, Sedaghat-Nejad E, Shadmehr R. Effort cost of harvest affects decisions and movement vigor of marmosets during foraging. eLife 2023; 12:RP87238. [PMID: 38079467 PMCID: PMC10715725 DOI: 10.7554/elife.87238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Our decisions are guided by how we perceive the value of an option, but this evaluation also affects how we move to acquire that option. Why should economic variables such as reward and effort alter the vigor of our movements? In theory, both the option that we choose and the vigor with which we move contribute to a measure of fitness in which the objective is to maximize rewards minus efforts, divided by time. To explore this idea, we engaged marmosets in a foraging task in which on each trial they decided whether to work by making saccades to visual targets, thus accumulating food, or to harvest by licking what they had earned. We varied the effort cost of harvest by moving the food tube with respect to the mouth. Theory predicted that the subjects should respond to the increased effort costs by choosing to work longer, stockpiling food before commencing harvest, but reduce their movement vigor to conserve energy. Indeed, in response to an increased effort cost of harvest, marmosets extended their work duration, but slowed their movements. These changes in decisions and movements coincided with changes in pupil size. As the effort cost of harvest declined, work duration decreased, the pupils dilated, and the vigor of licks and saccades increased. Thus, when acquisition of reward became effortful, the pupils constricted, the decisions exhibited delayed gratification, and the movements displayed reduced vigor.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul Hage
- Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - In Kyu Jang
- Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Vivian Looi
- Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Mohammad Amin Fakharian
- Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Simon P Orozco
- Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Jay S Pi
- Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Ehsan Sedaghat-Nejad
- Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| | - Reza Shadmehr
- Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimoreUnited States
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Reppert TR, Heitz RP, Schall JD. Neural mechanisms for executive control of speed-accuracy trade-off. Cell Rep 2023; 42:113422. [PMID: 37950871 PMCID: PMC10833473 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Revised: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 11/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The medial frontal cortex (MFC) plays an important but disputed role in speed-accuracy trade-off (SAT). In samples of neural spiking in the supplementary eye field (SEF) in the MFC simultaneous with the visuomotor frontal eye field and superior colliculus in macaques performing a visual search with instructed SAT, during accuracy emphasis, most SEF neurons discharge less from before stimulus presentation until response generation. Discharge rates adjust immediately and simultaneously across structures upon SAT cue changes. SEF neurons signal choice errors with stronger and earlier activity during accuracy emphasis. Other neurons signal timing errors, covarying with adjusting response time. Spike correlations between neurons in the SEF and visuomotor areas did not appear, disappear, or change sign across SAT conditions or trial outcomes. These results clarify findings with noninvasive measures, complement previous neurophysiological findings, and endorse the role of the MFC as a critic for the actor instantiated in visuomotor structures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas R Reppert
- Center for Integrative & Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA; Department of Psychology, The University of the South, Sewanee, TN 37383, USA
| | - Richard P Heitz
- Center for Integrative & Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA
| | - Jeffrey D Schall
- Center for Integrative & Cognitive Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Vision Research Center, Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37240, USA; Centre for Vision Research, Vision Science to Applications, Department of Biology, York University, Toronto ON M3J 1P3, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Safaie M, Chang JC, Park J, Miller LE, Dudman JT, Perich MG, Gallego JA. Preserved neural dynamics across animals performing similar behaviour. Nature 2023; 623:765-771. [PMID: 37938772 PMCID: PMC10665198 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06714-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023]
Abstract
Animals of the same species exhibit similar behaviours that are advantageously adapted to their body and environment. These behaviours are shaped at the species level by selection pressures over evolutionary timescales. Yet, it remains unclear how these common behavioural adaptations emerge from the idiosyncratic neural circuitry of each individual. The overall organization of neural circuits is preserved across individuals1 because of their common evolutionarily specified developmental programme2-4. Such organization at the circuit level may constrain neural activity5-8, leading to low-dimensional latent dynamics across the neural population9-11. Accordingly, here we suggested that the shared circuit-level constraints within a species would lead to suitably preserved latent dynamics across individuals. We analysed recordings of neural populations from monkey and mouse motor cortex to demonstrate that neural dynamics in individuals from the same species are surprisingly preserved when they perform similar behaviour. Neural population dynamics were also preserved when animals consciously planned future movements without overt behaviour12 and enabled the decoding of planned and ongoing movement across different individuals. Furthermore, we found that preserved neural dynamics extend beyond cortical regions to the dorsal striatum, an evolutionarily older structure13,14. Finally, we used neural network models to demonstrate that behavioural similarity is necessary but not sufficient for this preservation. We posit that these emergent dynamics result from evolutionary constraints on brain development and thus reflect fundamental properties of the neural basis of behaviour.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mostafa Safaie
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Joanna C Chang
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Junchol Park
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, TX, USA
| | - Lee E Miller
- Departments of Physiology, Biomedical Engineering and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University and Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Joshua T Dudman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, TX, USA
| | - Matthew G Perich
- Département de Neurosciences, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
- Mila, Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| | - Juan A Gallego
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Robbe D. Lost in time: Relocating the perception of duration outside the brain. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 153:105312. [PMID: 37467906 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023]
Abstract
It is well-accepted in neuroscience that animals process time internally to estimate the duration of intervals lasting between one and several seconds. More than 100 years ago, Henri Bergson nevertheless remarked that, because animals have memory, their inner experience of time is ever-changing, making duration impossible to measure internally and time a source of change. Bergson proposed that quantifying the inner experience of time requires its externalization in movements (observed or self-generated), as their unfolding leaves measurable traces in space. Here, studies across species are reviewed and collectively suggest that, in line with Bergson's ideas, animals spontaneously solve time estimation tasks through a movement-based spatialization of time. Moreover, the well-known scalable anticipatory responses of animals to regularly spaced rewards can be explained by the variable pressure of time on reward-oriented actions. Finally, the brain regions linked with time perception overlap with those implicated in motor control, spatial navigation and motivation. Thus, instead of considering time as static information processed by the brain, it might be fruitful to conceptualize it as a kind of force to which animals are more or less sensitive depending on their internal state and environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David Robbe
- Institut de Neurobiologie de la Méditerranée (INMED), INSERM, Marseille, France; Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Drew T, Fortier-Lebel N, Nakajima T. Cortical contribution to visuomotor coordination in locomotion and reaching. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2023; 82:102755. [PMID: 37633106 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2023.102755] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/28/2023]
Abstract
One of the hallmarks of mammals is their ability to make precise visually guided limb movements to attain objects. This is best exemplified by the reach and grasp movements of primates, although it is not unique to this mammalian order. Precise, coordinated, visually guided movements are equally as important during locomotion in many mammalian species, especially in predators. In this context, vision is used to guide paw trajectory and placement. In this review we examine the contribution of the fronto-parietal network in the control of such movements. We suggest that this network is responsible for visuomotor coordination across behaviours and species. We further argue for analogies between cytoarchitectonically similar cortical areas in primates and cats.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Trevor Drew
- Département de Neurosciences, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur le Cerveau et l'Apprentissage (CIRCA), Groupe de recherche sur la signalisation neurale et la circuiterie (SNC), Université de Montréal, Pavillon Paul-G. Desmarais, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada.
| | - Nicolas Fortier-Lebel
- Département de Neurosciences, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche sur le Cerveau et l'Apprentissage (CIRCA), Groupe de recherche sur la signalisation neurale et la circuiterie (SNC), Université de Montréal, Pavillon Paul-G. Desmarais, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7, Canada
| | - Toshi Nakajima
- Department of Integrative Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Ding L. Contributions of the Basal Ganglia to Visual Perceptual Decisions. Annu Rev Vis Sci 2023; 9:385-407. [PMID: 37713277 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-vision-111022-123804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
The basal ganglia (BG) make up a prominent nexus between visual and motor-related brain regions. In contrast to the BG's well-established roles in movement control and value-based decision making, their contributions to the transformation of visual input into an action remain unclear, especially in the context of perceptual decisions based on uncertain visual evidence. This article reviews recent progress in our understanding of the BG's contributions to the formation, evaluation, and adjustment of such decisions. From theoretical and experimental perspectives, the review focuses on four key stations in the BG network, namely, the striatum, pallidum, subthalamic nucleus, and midbrain dopamine neurons, which can have different roles and together support the decision process.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Long Ding
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Chakroun K, Wiehler A, Wagner B, Mathar D, Ganzer F, van Eimeren T, Sommer T, Peters J. Dopamine regulates decision thresholds in human reinforcement learning in males. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5369. [PMID: 37666865 PMCID: PMC10477234 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41130-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Dopamine fundamentally contributes to reinforcement learning, but recent accounts also suggest a contribution to specific action selection mechanisms and the regulation of response vigour. Here, we examine dopaminergic mechanisms underlying human reinforcement learning and action selection via a combined pharmacological neuroimaging approach in male human volunteers (n = 31, within-subjects; Placebo, 150 mg of the dopamine precursor L-dopa, 2 mg of the D2 receptor antagonist Haloperidol). We found little credible evidence for previously reported beneficial effects of L-dopa vs. Haloperidol on learning from gains and altered neural prediction error signals, which may be partly due to differences experimental design and/or drug dosages. Reinforcement learning drift diffusion models account for learning-related changes in accuracy and response times, and reveal consistent decision threshold reductions under both drugs, in line with the idea that lower dosages of D2 receptor antagonists increase striatal DA release via an autoreceptor-mediated feedback mechanism. These results are in line with the idea that dopamine regulates decision thresholds during reinforcement learning, and may help to bridge action selection and response vigor accounts of dopamine.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karima Chakroun
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Antonius Wiehler
- Motivation, Brain and Behavior Lab, Paris Brain Institute (ICM), Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Ben Wagner
- Chair of Cognitive Computational Neuroscience, Technical University Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - David Mathar
- Department of Psychology, Biological Psychology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Florian Ganzer
- Integrated Psychiatry Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
| | - Thilo van Eimeren
- Multimodal Neuroimaging Group, Department of Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Tobias Sommer
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jan Peters
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
- Department of Psychology, Biological Psychology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
De Comite A, Lefèvre P, Crevecoeur F. Continuous evaluation of cost-to-go for flexible reaching control and online decisions. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011493. [PMID: 37756355 PMCID: PMC10561875 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 10/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans consider the parameters linked to movement goal during reaching to adjust their control strategy online. Indeed, rapid changes in target structure or disturbances interfering with their initial plan elicit rapid changes in behavior. Here, we hypothesize that these changes could result from the continuous use of a decision variable combining motor and cognitive components. We combine an optimal feedback controller with a real-time evaluation of the expected cost-to-go, which considers target- and movement-related costs, in a common theoretical framework. This model reproduces human behaviors in presence of changes in the target structure occurring during movement and of online decisions to flexibly change target following external perturbations. It also predicts that the time taken to decide to select a novel goal after a perturbation depends on the amplitude of the disturbance and on the rewards of the different options, which is a direct result of the continuous monitoring of the cost-to-go. We show that this result was present in our previously collected dataset. Together our developments point towards a continuous evaluation of the cost-to-go during reaching to update control online and make efficient decisions about movement goal.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Antoine De Comite
- Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Philippe Lefèvre
- Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Frédéric Crevecoeur
- Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
- Institute of Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, UCLouvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Germanova K, Panidi K, Ivanov T, Novikov P, Ivanova GE, Villringer A, Nikulin VV, Nazarova M. Motor Decision-Making as a Common Denominator in Motor Pathology and a Possible Rehabilitation Target. Neurorehabil Neural Repair 2023; 37:577-586. [PMID: 37476957 DOI: 10.1177/15459683231186986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/22/2023]
Abstract
Despite the substantial progress in motor rehabilitation, patient involvement and motivation remain major challenges. They are typically addressed with communicational and environmental strategies, as well as with improved goal-setting procedures. Here we suggest a new research direction and framework involving Neuroeconomics principles to investigate the role of Motor Decision-Making (MDM) parameters in motivational component and motor performance in rehabilitation. We argue that investigating NE principles could bring new approaches aimed at increasing active patient engagement in the rehabilitation process by introducing more movement choice, and adapting existing goal-setting procedures. We discuss possible MDM implementation strategies and illustrate possible research directions using examples of stroke and psychiatric disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- K Germanova
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation
- Laboratory of the neurovisceral integration and neuromodulation, National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russian Federation
| | - K Panidi
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation
| | - T Ivanov
- FSBI "Federal Center for Brain and Neurotechnologies" of FMBA of Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
| | - P Novikov
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation
| | - G E Ivanova
- FSBI "Federal Center for Brain and Neurotechnologies" of FMBA of Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
| | - A Villringer
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - V V Nikulin
- Department of Neurology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - M Nazarova
- Centre for Cognition and Decision Making, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Russian Federation
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Kita K, Du Y, Haith AM. Evidence for a common mechanism supporting invigoration of action selection and action execution. J Neurophysiol 2023; 130:238-246. [PMID: 37377202 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00510.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The speed, or vigor, of our movements can vary depending on circumstances. For instance, the promise of a reward leads to faster movements. Reward also leads us to move with a lower reaction time, suggesting that the process of action selection can also be invigorated by reward. It has been proposed that invigoration of action selection and of action execution might occur through a common mechanism, and thus these aspects of behavior might be coupled. To test this hypothesis, we asked participants to make reaching movements to "shoot" through a target at varying speeds to assess whether moving more quickly was also associated with more rapid action selection. We found that, when participants were required to move with a lower velocity, the speed of their action selection was also significantly slowed. This finding was recapitulated in a further dataset in which participants determined their own movement speed, but had to move slowly to stop their movement inside the target. By reanalyzing a previous dataset, we also found evidence for the converse relationship between action execution and action selection; when pressured to select actions more rapidly, people also executed movements with higher velocity. Our results establish that invigoration of action selection and action execution vary in tandem with one another, supporting the hypothesis of a common underlying mechanism.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We show that voluntary increases in the vigor of action execution lead action selection to also occur more rapidly. Conversely, hastening action selection by imposing a deadline to act also leads to increases in movement speed. These findings provide evidence that these two distinct aspects of behavior are modulated by a common underlying mechanism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kahori Kita
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
| | - Yue Du
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
| | - Adrian M Haith
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Robbe D, Safaie M. Hot times for the dorsal striatum. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:1320-1321. [PMID: 37443280 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01386-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- David Robbe
- Institut de Neurobiologie de la Méditerranée (INMED), INSERM, Turing Center for Living System, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
| | - Mostafa Safaie
- Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Hage P, Jang IK, Looi V, Fakharian MA, Orozco SP, Pi JS, Sedaghat-Nejad E, Shadmehr R. Effort cost of harvest affects decisions and movement vigor of marmosets during foraging. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.02.04.527146. [PMID: 36798274 PMCID: PMC9934576 DOI: 10.1101/2023.02.04.527146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Our decisions are guided by how we perceive the value of an option, but this evaluation also affects how we move to acquire that option. Why should economic variables such as reward and effort alter the vigor of our movements? In theory, both the option that we choose and the vigor with which we move contribute to a measure of fitness in which the objective is to maximize rewards minus efforts, divided by time. To explore this idea, we engaged marmosets in a foraging task in which on each trial they decided whether to work by making saccades to visual targets, thus accumulating food, or to harvest by licking what they had earned. We varied the effort cost of harvest by moving the food tube with respect to the mouth. Theory predicted that the subjects should respond to the increased effort costs by choosing to work longer, stockpiling food before commencing harvest, but reduce their movement vigor to conserve energy. Indeed, in response to an increased effort cost of harvest, marmosets extended their work duration, but slowed their movements. These changes in decisions and movements coincided with changes in pupil size. As the effort cost of harvest declined, work duration decreased, the pupils dilated, and the vigor of licks and saccades increased. Thus, when acquisition of reward became effortful, the pupils constricted, the decisions exhibited delayed gratification, and the movements displayed reduced vigor. Significance statement Our results suggest that as the brainstem neuromodulatory circuits that control pupil size respond to effort costs, they alter computations in the brain regions that control decisions, encouraging work and delaying gratification, and the brain regions that control movements, reducing vigor and suppressing energy expenditure. This coordinated response suggests that decisions and actions are part of a single control policy that aims to maximize a variable relevant to fitness: the capture rate.
Collapse
|
17
|
Movement characteristics impact decision-making and vice versa. Sci Rep 2023; 13:3281. [PMID: 36841847 PMCID: PMC9968293 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-30325-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies suggest that humans are capable of coregulating the speed of decisions and movements if promoted by task incentives. It is unclear however whether such behavior is inherent to the process of translating decisional information into movements, beyond posing a valid strategy in some task contexts. Therefore, in a behavioral online study we imposed time constraints to either decision- or movement phases of a sensorimotor task, ensuring that coregulating decisions and movements was not promoted by task incentives. We found that participants indeed moved faster when fast decisions were promoted and decided faster when subsequent finger tapping movements had to be executed swiftly. These results were further supported by drift diffusion modelling and inspection of psychophysical kernels: Sensorimotor delays related to initiating the finger tapping sequence were shorter in fast-decision as compared to slow-decision blocks. Likewise, the decisional speed-accuracy tradeoff shifted in favor of faster decisions in fast-tapping as compared to slow-tapping blocks. These findings suggest that decisions not only impact movement characteristics, but that properties of movement impact the time taken to decide. We interpret these behavioral results in the context of embodied decision-making, whereby shared neural mechanisms may modulate decisions and movements in a joint fashion.
Collapse
|
18
|
Lawlor J, Zagala A, Jamali S, Boubenec Y. Pupillary dynamics reflect the impact of temporal expectation on detection strategy. iScience 2023; 26:106000. [PMID: 36798438 PMCID: PMC9926307 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Everyday life's perceptual decision-making is informed by experience. In particular, temporal expectation can ease the detection of relevant events in noisy sensory streams. Here, we investigated if humans can extract hidden temporal cues from the occurrences of probabilistic targets and utilize them to inform target detection in a complex acoustic stream. To understand what neural mechanisms implement temporal expectation influence on decision-making, we used pupillometry as a proxy for underlying neuromodulatory activity. We found that participants' detection strategy was influenced by the hidden temporal context and correlated with sound-evoked pupil dilation. A model of urgency fitted on false alarms predicted detection reaction time. Altogether, these findings suggest that temporal expectation informs decision-making and could be implemented through neuromodulatory-mediated urgency signals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Lawlor
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA,Corresponding author
| | - Agnès Zagala
- International Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, Canada
| | - Sara Jamali
- Institut Pasteur, INSERM, Institut de l’Audition, Paris, France
| | - Yves Boubenec
- Laboratoire des systèmes perceptifs, Département d’études cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Computational analysis of speed-accuracy tradeoff. Sci Rep 2022; 12:21995. [PMID: 36539428 PMCID: PMC9768160 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26120-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) in the decision making of humans and animals is a well-documented phenomenon, but its underlying neuronal mechanism remains unclear. Modeling approaches have conceptualized SAT through the threshold hypothesis as adjustments to the decision threshold. However, the leading neurophysiological view is the gain modulation hypothesis. This hypothesis postulates that the SAT mechanism is implemented through changes in the dynamics of the choice circuit, which increase the baseline firing rate and the speed of neuronal integration. In this paper, I investigated alternative computational mechanisms of SAT and showed that the threshold hypothesis was qualitatively consistent with the behavioral data, but the gain modulation hypothesis was not. In order to reconcile the threshold hypothesis with the neurophysiological evidence, I considered the interference of alpha oscillations with the decision process and showed that alpha oscillations could increase the discriminatory power of the decision system, although they slowed down the decision process. This suggests that the magnitude of alpha waves suppression during the event related desynchronization (ERD) of alpha oscillations depends on a SAT condition and the amplitude of alpha oscillations is lower in the speed condition. I also showed that the lower amplitude of alpha oscillations resulted in an increase in the baseline firing rate and the speed of neuronal intergration. Thus, the interference of the event related desynchronization of alpha oscillations with a SAT condition explains why an increase in the baseline firing rate and the speed of neuronal integration accompany the speed condition.
Collapse
|
20
|
Korbisch CC, Apuan DR, Shadmehr R, Ahmed AA. Saccade vigor reflects the rise of decision variables during deliberation. Curr Biol 2022; 32:5374-5381.e4. [PMID: 36413989 PMCID: PMC9795813 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.10.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2022] [Revised: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
During deliberation, as we quietly consider our options, the neural activities representing the decision variables that reflect the goodness of each option rise in various regions of the cerebral cortex.1,2,3,4,5,6,7 If the options are depicted visually, we make saccades, focusing gaze on each option. Do the kinematics of these saccades reflect the state of the decision variables? To test this idea, we engaged human participants in a decision-making task in which they considered two effortful options that required walking across various distances and inclines. As they deliberated, they made saccades between the symbolic representations of their options. These deliberation period saccades had no bearing on the effort they would later expend, yet saccade velocities increased gradually and differentially: the rate of rise was faster for saccades toward the option that they later indicated as their choice. Indeed, the rate of rise encoded the difference in the subjective value of the two options. Importantly, the participants did not reveal their choice at the conclusion of deliberation, but rather waited during a delay period, and finally expressed their choice by making another saccade. Remarkably, vigor for this saccade dropped to baseline and no longer encoded subjective value. Thus, saccade vigor appeared to provide a real-time window to the otherwise hidden process of option evaluation during deliberation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Colin C Korbisch
- Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Neuromechanics Laboratory, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Daniel R Apuan
- Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Neuromechanics Laboratory, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Reza Shadmehr
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Laboratory for Computational Motor Control, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Alaa A Ahmed
- Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Neuromechanics Laboratory, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Thura D, Cabana JF, Feghaly A, Cisek P. Integrated neural dynamics of sensorimotor decisions and actions. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001861. [PMID: 36520685 PMCID: PMC9754259 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent theoretical models suggest that deciding about actions and executing them are not implemented by completely distinct neural mechanisms but are instead two modes of an integrated dynamical system. Here, we investigate this proposal by examining how neural activity unfolds during a dynamic decision-making task within the high-dimensional space defined by the activity of cells in monkey dorsal premotor (PMd), primary motor (M1), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) as well as the external and internal segments of the globus pallidus (GPe, GPi). Dimensionality reduction shows that the four strongest components of neural activity are functionally interpretable, reflecting a state transition between deliberation and commitment, the transformation of sensory evidence into a choice, and the baseline and slope of the rising urgency to decide. Analysis of the contribution of each population to these components shows meaningful differences between regions but no distinct clusters within each region, consistent with an integrated dynamical system. During deliberation, cortical activity unfolds on a two-dimensional "decision manifold" defined by sensory evidence and urgency and falls off this manifold at the moment of commitment into a choice-dependent trajectory leading to movement initiation. The structure of the manifold varies between regions: In PMd, it is curved; in M1, it is nearly perfectly flat; and in dlPFC, it is almost entirely confined to the sensory evidence dimension. In contrast, pallidal activity during deliberation is primarily defined by urgency. We suggest that these findings reveal the distinct functional contributions of different brain regions to an integrated dynamical system governing action selection and execution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David Thura
- Groupe de recherche sur la signalisation neurale et la circuiterie, Department of Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Jean-François Cabana
- Groupe de recherche sur la signalisation neurale et la circuiterie, Department of Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Albert Feghaly
- Groupe de recherche sur la signalisation neurale et la circuiterie, Department of Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Paul Cisek
- Groupe de recherche sur la signalisation neurale et la circuiterie, Department of Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Dynamic control of decision and movement speed in the human basal ganglia. Nat Commun 2022; 13:7530. [PMID: 36476581 PMCID: PMC9729212 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35121-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
To optimally adjust our behavior to changing environments we need to both adjust the speed of our decisions and movements. Yet little is known about the extent to which these processes are controlled by common or separate mechanisms. Furthermore, while previous evidence from computational models and empirical studies suggests that the basal ganglia play an important role during adjustments of decision-making, it remains unclear how this is implemented. Leveraging the opportunity to directly access the subthalamic nucleus of the basal ganglia in humans undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery, we here combine invasive electrophysiological recordings, electrical stimulation and computational modelling of perceptual decision-making. We demonstrate that, while similarities between subthalamic control of decision- and movement speed exist, the causal contribution of the subthalamic nucleus to these processes can be disentangled. Our results show that the basal ganglia independently control the speed of decisions and movement for each hemisphere during adaptive behavior.
Collapse
|
23
|
Barendregt NW, Gold JI, Josić K, Kilpatrick ZP. Normative decision rules in changing environments. eLife 2022; 11:e79824. [PMID: 36282065 PMCID: PMC9754630 DOI: 10.7554/elife.79824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Models based on normative principles have played a major role in our understanding of how the brain forms decisions. However, these models have typically been derived for simple, stable conditions, and their relevance to decisions formed under more naturalistic, dynamic conditions is unclear. We previously derived a normative decision model in which evidence accumulation is adapted to fluctuations in the evidence-generating process that occur during a single decision (Glaze et al., 2015), but the evolution of commitment rules (e.g. thresholds on the accumulated evidence) under dynamic conditions is not fully understood. Here, we derive a normative model for decisions based on changing contexts, which we define as changes in evidence quality or reward, over the course of a single decision. In these cases, performance (reward rate) is maximized using decision thresholds that respond to and even anticipate these changes, in contrast to the static thresholds used in many decision models. We show that these adaptive thresholds exhibit several distinct temporal motifs that depend on the specific predicted and experienced context changes and that adaptive models perform robustly even when implemented imperfectly (noisily). We further show that decision models with adaptive thresholds outperform those with constant or urgency-gated thresholds in accounting for human response times on a task with time-varying evidence quality and average reward. These results further link normative and neural decision-making while expanding our view of both as dynamic, adaptive processes that update and use expectations to govern both deliberation and commitment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas W Barendregt
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Colorado BoulderBoulderUnited States
| | - Joshua I Gold
- Department of Neuroscience, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaUnited States
| | - Krešimir Josić
- Department of Mathematics, University of HoustonHoustonUnited States
| | - Zachary P Kilpatrick
- Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Colorado BoulderBoulderUnited States
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Cometa A, Falasconi A, Biasizzo M, Carpaneto J, Horn A, Mazzoni A, Micera S. Clinical neuroscience and neurotechnology: An amazing symbiosis. iScience 2022; 25:105124. [PMID: 36193050 PMCID: PMC9526189 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In the last decades, clinical neuroscience found a novel ally in neurotechnologies, devices able to record and stimulate electrical activity in the nervous system. These technologies improved the ability to diagnose and treat neural disorders. Neurotechnologies are concurrently enabling a deeper understanding of healthy and pathological dynamics of the nervous system through stimulation and recordings during brain implants. On the other hand, clinical neurosciences are not only driving neuroengineering toward the most relevant clinical issues, but are also shaping the neurotechnologies thanks to clinical advancements. For instance, understanding the etiology of a disease informs the location of a therapeutic stimulation, but also the way stimulation patterns should be designed to be more effective/naturalistic. Here, we describe cases of fruitful integration such as Deep Brain Stimulation and cortical interfaces to highlight how this symbiosis between clinical neuroscience and neurotechnology is closer to a novel integrated framework than to a simple interdisciplinary interaction.
Collapse
|
25
|
Thenaisie Y, Lee K, Moerman C, Scafa S, Gálvez A, Pirondini E, Burri M, Ravier J, Puiatti A, Accolla E, Wicki B, Zacharia A, Castro Jiménez M, Bally JF, Courtine G, Bloch J, Moraud EM. Principles of gait encoding in the subthalamic nucleus of people with Parkinson's disease. Sci Transl Med 2022; 14:eabo1800. [PMID: 36070366 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abo1800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Disruption of subthalamic nucleus dynamics in Parkinson's disease leads to impairments during walking. Here, we aimed to uncover the principles through which the subthalamic nucleus encodes functional and dysfunctional walking in people with Parkinson's disease. We conceived a neurorobotic platform embedding an isokinetic dynamometric chair that allowed us to deconstruct key components of walking under well-controlled conditions. We exploited this platform in 18 patients with Parkinson's disease to demonstrate that the subthalamic nucleus encodes the initiation, termination, and amplitude of leg muscle activation. We found that the same fundamental principles determine the encoding of leg muscle synergies during standing and walking. We translated this understanding into a machine learning framework that decoded muscle activation, walking states, locomotor vigor, and freezing of gait. These results expose key principles through which subthalamic nucleus dynamics encode walking, opening the possibility to operate neuroprosthetic systems with these signals to improve walking in people with Parkinson's disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yohann Thenaisie
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,NeuroRestore, Defitech Centre for Interventional Neurotherapies, CHUV, UNIL, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland
| | - Kyuhwa Lee
- Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering, Geneva CH-1202, Switzerland
| | - Charlotte Moerman
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,NeuroRestore, Defitech Centre for Interventional Neurotherapies, CHUV, UNIL, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland
| | - Stefano Scafa
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,NeuroRestore, Defitech Centre for Interventional Neurotherapies, CHUV, UNIL, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,Institute of Digital Technologies for Personalized Healthcare (MeDiTech) , University of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI), Lugano-Viganello CH-6962 Switzerland
| | - Andrea Gálvez
- NeuroRestore, Defitech Centre for Interventional Neurotherapies, CHUV, UNIL, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,Faculty of Life Sciences, EPFL, NeuroX Institute, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Elvira Pirondini
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh 15213, PA, USA.,Rehabilitation and Neural Engineering Labs, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh 15213, PA, USA
| | - Morgane Burri
- NeuroRestore, Defitech Centre for Interventional Neurotherapies, CHUV, UNIL, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,Faculty of Life Sciences, EPFL, NeuroX Institute, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Jimmy Ravier
- NeuroRestore, Defitech Centre for Interventional Neurotherapies, CHUV, UNIL, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,Faculty of Life Sciences, EPFL, NeuroX Institute, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland
| | - Alessandro Puiatti
- Institute of Digital Technologies for Personalized Healthcare (MeDiTech) , University of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI), Lugano-Viganello CH-6962 Switzerland
| | - Ettore Accolla
- Department of Neurology, Hôpital Fribourgeois, Fribourg University, Fribourg CH-1708, Switzerland
| | - Benoit Wicki
- Department of Neurology, Hôpital du Valais, Sion CH-1951, Switzerland
| | - André Zacharia
- Clinique Bernoise, Crans-Montana CH-3963, Switzerland.,Department of Neurology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,Department of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva CH-1201, Switzerland
| | - Mayte Castro Jiménez
- Department of Neurology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland
| | - Julien F Bally
- Department of Neurology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland
| | - Grégoire Courtine
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,NeuroRestore, Defitech Centre for Interventional Neurotherapies, CHUV, UNIL, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,Faculty of Life Sciences, EPFL, NeuroX Institute, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.,Department of Neurosurgery, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland
| | - Jocelyne Bloch
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,NeuroRestore, Defitech Centre for Interventional Neurotherapies, CHUV, UNIL, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,Faculty of Life Sciences, EPFL, NeuroX Institute, Lausanne CH-1015, Switzerland.,Department of Neurosurgery, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland
| | - Eduardo Martin Moraud
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland.,NeuroRestore, Defitech Centre for Interventional Neurotherapies, CHUV, UNIL, and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne CH-1011, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Kavroulakis E, van Kemenade BM, Arikan BE, Kircher T, Straube B. The effect of self-generated versus externally generated actions on timing, duration, and amplitude of blood oxygen level dependent response for visual feedback processing. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:4954-4969. [PMID: 36056611 PMCID: PMC9582366 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been widely assumed that internal forward models use efference copies to create predictions about the sensory consequences of our own actions. While these predictions have frequently been associated with a reduced blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) response in sensory cortices, the timing and duration of the hemodynamic response for the processing of video feedback of self‐generated (active) versus externally generated (passive) movements is poorly understood. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that predictive mechanisms for self‐generated actions lead to early and shorter neural processing compared with externally generated movements. We investigated active and passive movements using a custom‐made fMRI‐compatible movement device. Visual video feedback of the active and passive movements was presented in real time or with variable delays. Participants had to judge whether the feedback was delayed. Timing and duration of BOLD impulse response was calculated using a first (temporal derivative [TD]) and second‐order (dispersion derivative [DD]) Taylor approximation. Our reanalysis confirmed our previous finding of reduced BOLD response for active compared to passive movements. Moreover, we found positive effects of the TD and DD in the supplementary motor area, cerebellum, visual cortices, and subcortical structures, indicating earlier and shorter hemodynamic responses for active compared to passive movements. Furthermore, earlier activation in the putamen for active compared to passive conditions was associated with reduced delay detection performance. These findings indicate that efference copy‐based predictive mechanisms enable earlier processing of action feedback, which might have reduced the ability to detect short delays between action and feedback.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Bianca M van Kemenade
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.,Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Belkis Ezgi Arikan
- Department of Psychology, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Tilo Kircher
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - Benjamin Straube
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Inagaki HK, Chen S, Daie K, Finkelstein A, Fontolan L, Romani S, Svoboda K. Neural Algorithms and Circuits for Motor Planning. Annu Rev Neurosci 2022; 45:249-271. [PMID: 35316610 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-092021-121730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The brain plans and executes volitional movements. The underlying patterns of neural population activity have been explored in the context of movements of the eyes, limbs, tongue, and head in nonhuman primates and rodents. How do networks of neurons produce the slow neural dynamics that prepare specific movements and the fast dynamics that ultimately initiate these movements? Recent work exploits rapid and calibrated perturbations of neural activity to test specific dynamical systems models that are capable of producing the observed neural activity. These joint experimental and computational studies show that cortical dynamics during motor planning reflect fixed points of neural activity (attractors). Subcortical control signals reshape and move attractors over multiple timescales, causing commitment to specific actions and rapid transitions to movement execution. Experiments in rodents are beginning to reveal how these algorithms are implemented at the level of brain-wide neural circuits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Susu Chen
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia, USA
| | - Kayvon Daie
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia, USA.,Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, Seattle, Washington, USA;
| | - Arseny Finkelstein
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia, USA.,Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
| | - Lorenzo Fontolan
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia, USA
| | - Sandro Romani
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia, USA
| | - Karel Svoboda
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, Virginia, USA.,Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, Seattle, Washington, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Identifying control ensembles for information processing within the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic circuit. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1010255. [PMID: 35737720 PMCID: PMC9258830 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In situations featuring uncertainty about action-reward contingencies, mammals can flexibly adopt strategies for decision-making that are tuned in response to environmental changes. Although the cortico-basal ganglia thalamic (CBGT) network has been identified as contributing to the decision-making process, it features a complex synaptic architecture, comprised of multiple feed-forward, reciprocal, and feedback pathways, that complicate efforts to elucidate the roles of specific CBGT populations in the process by which evidence is accumulated and influences behavior. In this paper we apply a strategic sampling approach, based on Latin hypercube sampling, to explore how variations in CBGT network properties, including subpopulation firing rates and synaptic weights, map to variability of parameters in a normative drift diffusion model (DDM), representing algorithmic aspects of information processing during decision-making. Through the application of canonical correlation analysis, we find that this relationship can be characterized in terms of three low-dimensional control ensembles within the CBGT network that impact specific qualities of the emergent decision policy: responsiveness (a measure of how quickly evidence evaluation gets underway, associated with overall activity in corticothalamic and direct pathways), pliancy (a measure of the standard of evidence needed to commit to a decision, associated largely with overall activity in components of the indirect pathway of the basal ganglia), and choice (a measure of commitment toward one available option, associated with differences in direct and indirect pathways across action channels). These analyses provide mechanistic predictions about the roles of specific CBGT network elements in tuning the way that information is accumulated and translated into decision-related behavior.
Collapse
|
29
|
Puelma Touzel M, Cisek P, Lajoie G. Performance-gated deliberation: A context-adapted strategy in which urgency is opportunity cost. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1010080. [PMID: 35617370 PMCID: PMC9176815 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Revised: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Finding the right amount of deliberation, between insufficient and excessive, is a hard decision making problem that depends on the value we place on our time. Average-reward, putatively encoded by tonic dopamine, serves in existing reinforcement learning theory as the opportunity cost of time, including deliberation time. Importantly, this cost can itself vary with the environmental context and is not trivial to estimate. Here, we propose how the opportunity cost of deliberation can be estimated adaptively on multiple timescales to account for non-stationary contextual factors. We use it in a simple decision-making heuristic based on average-reward reinforcement learning (AR-RL) that we call Performance-Gated Deliberation (PGD). We propose PGD as a strategy used by animals wherein deliberation cost is implemented directly as urgency, a previously characterized neural signal effectively controlling the speed of the decision-making process. We show PGD outperforms AR-RL solutions in explaining behaviour and urgency of non-human primates in a context-varying random walk prediction task and is consistent with relative performance and urgency in a context-varying random dot motion task. We make readily testable predictions for both neural activity and behaviour.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Puelma Touzel
- Mila, Québec AI Institute, Montréal, Canada
- Department of Computer Science & Operations Research, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Paul Cisek
- Department of Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
| | - Guillaume Lajoie
- Mila, Québec AI Institute, Montréal, Canada
- Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Frighetto G, Zordan MA, Castiello U, Megighian A, Martin JR. Dopamine Modulation of Drosophila Ellipsoid Body Neurons, a Nod to the Mammalian Basal Ganglia. Front Physiol 2022; 13:849142. [PMID: 35492587 PMCID: PMC9048027 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.849142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The central complex (CX) is a neural structure located on the midline of the insect brain that has been widely studied in the last few years. Its role in navigation and goal-oriented behaviors resembles those played by the basal ganglia in mammals. However, the neural mechanisms and the neurotransmitters involved in these processes remain unclear. Here, we exploited an in vivo bioluminescence Ca2+ imaging technique to record the activity in targeted neurons of the ellipsoid body (EB). We used different drugs to evoke excitatory Ca2+-responses, depending on the putative neurotransmitter released by their presynaptic inputs, while concomitant dopamine administration was employed to modulate those excitations. By using a genetic approach to knockdown the dopamine 1-like receptors, we showed that different dopamine modulatory effects are likely due to specific receptors expressed by the targeted population of neurons. Altogether, these results provide new data concerning how dopamine modulates and shapes the response of the ellipsoid body neurons. Moreover, they provide important insights regarding the similitude with mammals as far as the role played by dopamine in increasing and stabilizing the response of goal-related information.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Frighetto
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Saclay, France
| | - Mauro A. Zordan
- Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Umberto Castiello
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Aram Megighian
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Jean-René Martin
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Saclay, France
- *Correspondence: Jean-René Martin,
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Glickman M, Moran R, Usher M. Evidence integration and decision confidence are modulated by stimulus consistency. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:988-999. [PMID: 35379981 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01318-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2020] [Accepted: 02/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Evidence integration is a normative algorithm for choosing between alternatives with noisy evidence, which has been successful in accounting for vast amounts of behavioural and neural data. However, this mechanism has been challenged by non-integration heuristics, and tracking decision boundaries has proven elusive. Here we first show that the decision boundaries can be extracted using a model-free behavioural method termed decision classification boundary, which optimizes choice classification based on the accumulated evidence. Using this method, we provide direct support for evidence integration over non-integration heuristics, show that the decision boundaries collapse across time and identify an integration bias whereby incoming evidence is modulated based on its consistency with preceding information. This consistency bias, which is a form of pre-decision confirmation bias, was supported in four cross-domain experiments, showing that choice accuracy and decision confidence are modulated by stimulus consistency. Strikingly, despite its seeming sub-optimality, the consistency bias fosters performance by enhancing robustness to integration noise.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Moshe Glickman
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, London, UK. .,Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, UK.
| | - Rani Moran
- Max Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London, UK.,Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK
| | - Marius Usher
- School of Psychology, University of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. .,Sagol School of Neuroscience, University of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Grossman CD, Cohen JY. Neuromodulation and Neurophysiology on the Timescale of Learning and Decision-Making. Annu Rev Neurosci 2022; 45:317-337. [PMID: 35363533 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-092021-125059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Nervous systems evolved to effectively navigate the dynamics of the environment to achieve their goals. One framework used to study this fundamental problem arose in the study of learning and decision-making. In this framework, the demands of effective behavior require slow dynamics-on the scale of seconds to minutes-of networks of neurons. Here, we review the phenomena and mechanisms involved. Using vignettes from a few species and areas of the nervous system, we view neuromodulators as key substrates for temporal scaling of neuronal dynamics. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Volume 45 is July 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cooper D Grossman
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Brain Science Institute, and Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA;
| | - Jeremiah Y Cohen
- The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Brain Science Institute, and Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Derosiere G, Thura D, Cisek P, Duque J. Hasty sensorimotor decisions rely on an overlap of broad and selective changes in motor activity. PLoS Biol 2022; 20:e3001598. [PMID: 35389982 PMCID: PMC9017893 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans and other animals are able to adjust their speed–accuracy trade-off (SAT) at will depending on the urge to act, favoring either cautious or hasty decision policies in different contexts. An emerging view is that SAT regulation relies on influences exerting broad changes on the motor system, tuning its activity up globally when hastiness is at premium. The present study aimed to test this hypothesis. A total of 50 participants performed a task involving choices between left and right index fingers, in which incorrect choices led either to a high or to a low penalty in 2 contexts, inciting them to emphasize either cautious or hasty policies. We applied transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on multiple motor representations, eliciting motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) in 9 finger and leg muscles. MEP amplitudes allowed us to probe activity changes in the corresponding finger and leg representations, while participants were deliberating about which index to choose. Our data indicate that hastiness entails a broad amplification of motor activity, although this amplification was limited to the chosen side. On top of this effect, we identified a local suppression of motor activity, surrounding the chosen index representation. Hence, a decision policy favoring speed over accuracy appears to rely on overlapping processes producing a broad (but not global) amplification and a surround suppression of motor activity. The latter effect may help to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the chosen representation, as supported by single-trial correlation analyses indicating a stronger differentiation of activity changes in finger representations in the hasty context. Many have argued that the regulation of the speed-accuracy tradeoff relies on an urgency signal, which implements "collapsing decision thresholds" by tuning neural activity in a global manner in decision-related structures. This study indicates that the reality is more subtle, with several aspects of "urgency" being specifically targeted to particular corticospinal populations within the motor system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gerard Derosiere
- Institute of Neuroscience, Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
- * E-mail:
| | - David Thura
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center–Impact Team, Inserm U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon 1 University, Bron, France
| | - Paul Cisek
- Department of Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
| | - Julie Duque
- Institute of Neuroscience, Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Oscillatory waveform sharpness asymmetry changes in motor thalamus and motor cortex in a rat model of Parkinson's disease. Exp Neurol 2022; 354:114089. [DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2022.114089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Revised: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
|
35
|
Abstract
This article outlines a hypothetical sequence of evolutionary innovations, along the lineage that produced humans, which extended behavioural control from simple feedback loops to sophisticated control of diverse species-typical actions. I begin with basic feedback mechanisms of ancient mobile animals and follow the major niche transitions from aquatic to terrestrial life, the retreat into nocturnality in early mammals, the transition to arboreal life and the return to diurnality. Along the way, I propose a sequence of elaboration and diversification of the behavioural repertoire and associated neuroanatomical substrates. This includes midbrain control of approach versus escape actions, telencephalic control of local versus long-range foraging, detection of affordances by the dorsal pallium, diversified control of nocturnal foraging in the mammalian neocortex and expansion of primate frontal, temporal and parietal cortex to support a wide variety of primate-specific behavioural strategies. The result is a proposed functional architecture consisting of parallel control systems, each dedicated to specifying the affordances for guiding particular species-typical actions, which compete against each other through a hierarchy of selection mechanisms. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Systems neuroscience through the lens of evolutionary theory’.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Paul Cisek
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Montreal CP 6123 Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C 3J7
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Calderon CB, Verguts T, Frank MJ. Thunderstruck: The ACDC model of flexible sequences and rhythms in recurrent neural circuits. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1009854. [PMID: 35108283 PMCID: PMC8843237 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Revised: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Adaptive sequential behavior is a hallmark of human cognition. In particular, humans can learn to produce precise spatiotemporal sequences given a certain context. For instance, musicians can not only reproduce learned action sequences in a context-dependent manner, they can also quickly and flexibly reapply them in any desired tempo or rhythm without overwriting previous learning. Existing neural network models fail to account for these properties. We argue that this limitation emerges from the fact that sequence information (i.e., the position of the action) and timing (i.e., the moment of response execution) are typically stored in the same neural network weights. Here, we augment a biologically plausible recurrent neural network of cortical dynamics to include a basal ganglia-thalamic module which uses reinforcement learning to dynamically modulate action. This “associative cluster-dependent chain” (ACDC) model modularly stores sequence and timing information in distinct loci of the network. This feature increases computational power and allows ACDC to display a wide range of temporal properties (e.g., multiple sequences, temporal shifting, rescaling, and compositionality), while still accounting for several behavioral and neurophysiological empirical observations. Finally, we apply this ACDC network to show how it can learn the famous “Thunderstruck” song intro and then flexibly play it in a “bossa nova” rhythm without further training. How do humans flexibly adapt action sequences? For instance, musicians can learn a song and quickly speed up or slow down the tempo, or even play the song following a completely different rhythm (e.g., a rock song using a bossa nova rhythm). In this work, we build a biologically plausible network of cortico-basal ganglia interactions that explains how this temporal flexibility may emerge in the brain. Crucially, our model factorizes sequence order and action timing, respectively represented in cortical and basal ganglia dynamics. This factorization allows full temporal flexibility, i.e. the timing of a learned action sequence can be recomposed without interfering with the order of the sequence. As such, our model is capable of learning asynchronous action sequences, and flexibly shift, rescale, and recompose them, while accounting for biological data.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cristian Buc Calderon
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Tom Verguts
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Michael J. Frank
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Averbeck B, O'Doherty JP. Reinforcement-learning in fronto-striatal circuits. Neuropsychopharmacology 2022; 47:147-162. [PMID: 34354249 PMCID: PMC8616931 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-021-01108-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
We review the current state of knowledge on the computational and neural mechanisms of reinforcement-learning with a particular focus on fronto-striatal circuits. We divide the literature in this area into five broad research themes: the target of the learning-whether it be learning about the value of stimuli or about the value of actions; the nature and complexity of the algorithm used to drive the learning and inference process; how learned values get converted into choices and associated actions; the nature of state representations, and of other cognitive machinery that support the implementation of various reinforcement-learning operations. An emerging fifth area focuses on how the brain allocates or arbitrates control over different reinforcement-learning sub-systems or "experts". We will outline what is known about the role of the prefrontal cortex and striatum in implementing each of these functions. We then conclude by arguing that it will be necessary to build bridges from algorithmic level descriptions of computational reinforcement-learning to implementational level models to better understand how reinforcement-learning emerges from multiple distributed neural networks in the brain.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - John P O'Doherty
- Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Martinez MC, Zold CL, Coletti MA, Murer MG, Belluscio MA. Dorsal striatum coding for the timely execution of action sequences. eLife 2022; 11:74929. [PMID: 36426715 PMCID: PMC9699698 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The automatic initiation of actions can be highly functional. But occasionally these actions cannot be withheld and are released at inappropriate times, impulsively. Striatal activity has been shown to participate in the timing of action sequence initiation and it has been linked to impulsivity. Using a self-initiated task, we trained adult male rats to withhold a rewarded action sequence until a waiting time interval has elapsed. By analyzing neuronal activity we show that the striatal response preceding the initiation of the learned sequence is strongly modulated by the time subjects wait before eliciting the sequence. Interestingly, the modulation is steeper in adolescent rats, which show a strong prevalence of impulsive responses compared to adults. We hypothesize this anticipatory striatal activity reflects the animals’ subjective reward expectation, based on the elapsed waiting time, while the steeper waiting modulation in adolescence reflects age-related differences in temporal discounting, internal urgency states, or explore–exploit balance.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Cecilia Martinez
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular “Dr. Héctor Maldonado”Buenos AiresArgentina,Universidad de Buenos Aires - CONICET, Instituto de Fisiología y Biofísica “Dr. Bernardo Houssay” (IFIBIO-Houssay), Grupo de Neurociencia de SistemasBuenos AiresArgentina
| | - Camila Lidia Zold
- Universidad de Buenos Aires - CONICET, Instituto de Fisiología y Biofísica “Dr. Bernardo Houssay” (IFIBIO-Houssay), Grupo de Neurociencia de SistemasBuenos AiresArgentina,Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Departamento de FisiologíaBuenos AiresArgentina
| | - Marcos Antonio Coletti
- Universidad de Buenos Aires - CONICET, Instituto de Fisiología y Biofísica “Dr. Bernardo Houssay” (IFIBIO-Houssay), Grupo de Neurociencia de SistemasBuenos AiresArgentina,Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Departamento de FisiologíaBuenos AiresArgentina
| | - Mario Gustavo Murer
- Universidad de Buenos Aires - CONICET, Instituto de Fisiología y Biofísica “Dr. Bernardo Houssay” (IFIBIO-Houssay), Grupo de Neurociencia de SistemasBuenos AiresArgentina,Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Departamento de FisiologíaBuenos AiresArgentina
| | - Mariano Andrés Belluscio
- Universidad de Buenos Aires - CONICET, Instituto de Fisiología y Biofísica “Dr. Bernardo Houssay” (IFIBIO-Houssay), Grupo de Neurociencia de SistemasBuenos AiresArgentina,Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Departamento de FisiologíaBuenos AiresArgentina
| |
Collapse
|
39
|
Saleri Lunazzi C, Reynaud AJ, Thura D. Dissociating the Impact of Movement Time and Energy Costs on Decision-Making and Action Initiation in Humans. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:715212. [PMID: 34790104 PMCID: PMC8592235 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.715212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent theories and data suggest that adapted behavior involves economic computations during which multiple trade-offs between reward value, accuracy requirement, energy expenditure, and elapsing time are solved so as to obtain rewards as soon as possible while spending the least possible amount of energy. However, the relative impact of movement energy and duration costs on perceptual decision-making and movement initiation is poorly understood. Here, we tested 31 healthy subjects on a perceptual decision-making task in which they executed reaching movements to report probabilistic choices. In distinct blocks of trials, the reaching duration (“Time” condition) and energy (“Effort” condition) costs were independently varied compared to a “Reference” block, while decision difficulty was maintained similar at the block level. Participants also performed a simple delayed-reaching (DR) task aimed at estimating movement initiation duration in each motor condition. Results in that DR task show that long duration movements extended reaction times (RTs) in most subjects, whereas energy-consuming movements led to mixed effects on RTs. In the decision task, about half of the subjects decreased their decision durations (DDs) in the Time condition, while the impact of energy on DDs were again mixed across subjects. Decision accuracy was overall similar across motor conditions. These results indicate that movement duration and, to a lesser extent, energy expenditure, idiosyncratically affect perceptual decision-making and action initiation. We propose that subjects who shortened their choices in the time-consuming condition of the decision task did so to limit a drop of reward rate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Clara Saleri Lunazzi
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, ImpAct Team, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U1028, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR5292, Lyon 1 University, Bron, France
| | - Amélie J Reynaud
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, ImpAct Team, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U1028, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR5292, Lyon 1 University, Bron, France
| | - David Thura
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, ImpAct Team, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale U1028, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique UMR5292, Lyon 1 University, Bron, France
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Krämer SD, Schuhmann MK, Schadt F, Israel I, Samnick S, Volkmann J, Fluri F. Changes of cerebral network activity after invasive stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region in a rat stroke model. Exp Neurol 2021; 347:113884. [PMID: 34624326 DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2021.113884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 09/02/2021] [Accepted: 10/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Motor deficits after stroke reflect both, focal lesion and network alterations in brain regions distant from infarction. This remote network dysfunction may be caused by aberrant signals from cortical motor regions travelling via mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) to other locomotor circuits. A method for modulating disturbed network activity is deep brain stimulation. Recently, we have shown that high frequency stimulation (HFS) of the MLR in rats has restored gait impairment after photothrombotic stroke (PTS). However, it remains elusive which cerebral regions are involved by MLR-stimulation and contribute to the improvement of locomotion. Seventeen male Wistar rats underwent photothrombotic stroke of the right sensorimotor cortex and implantation of a microelectrode into the right MLR. 2-[18F]Fluoro-2-deoxyglucose ([18F]FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) was conducted before stroke and thereafter, on day 2 and 3 after stroke, without and with MLR-HFS, respectively. [18F]FDG-PET imaging analyses yielded a reduced glucose metabolism in the right cortico-striatal thalamic loop after PTS compared to the state before intervention. When MLR-HFS was applied after PTS, animals exhibited a significantly higher uptake of [18F]FDG in the right but not in the left cortico-striatal thalamic loop. Furthermore, MLR-HFS resulted in an elevated glucose metabolism of right-sided association cortices related to the ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex. These data support the concept of diaschisis i.e., of dysfunctional brain areas distant to a focal lesion and suggests that MLR-HFS can reverse remote network effects following PTS in rats which otherwise may result in chronic motor symptoms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie D Krämer
- Radiopharmaceutical Sciences/Biopharmacy, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Fabian Schadt
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Interdisciplinary PET center, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Ina Israel
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Interdisciplinary PET center, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Samuel Samnick
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Interdisciplinary PET center, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Jens Volkmann
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Felix Fluri
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Ferrucci L, Genovesio A, Marcos E. The importance of urgency in decision making based on dynamic information. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009455. [PMID: 34606494 PMCID: PMC8516247 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A standard view in the literature is that decisions are the result of a process that accumulates evidence in favor of each alternative until such accumulation reaches a threshold and a decision is made. However, this view has been recently questioned by an alternative proposal that suggests that, instead of accumulated, evidence is combined with an urgency signal. Both theories have been mathematically formalized and supported by a variety of decision-making tasks with constant information. However, recently, tasks with changing information have shown to be more effective to study the dynamics of decision making. Recent research using one of such tasks, the tokens task, has shown that decisions are better described by an urgency mechanism than by an accumulation one. However, the results of that study could depend on a task where all fundamental information was noiseless and always present, favoring a mechanism of non-integration, such as the urgency one. Here, we wanted to address whether the same conclusions were also supported by an experimental paradigm in which sensory evidence was removed shortly after it was provided, making working memory necessary to properly perform the task. Here, we show that, under such condition, participants' behavior could be explained by an urgency-gating mechanism that low-pass filters the mnemonic information and combines it with an urgency signal that grows with time but not by an accumulation process that integrates the same mnemonic information. Thus, our study supports the idea that, under certain situations with dynamic sensory information, decisions are better explained by an urgency-gating mechanism than by an accumulation one.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lorenzo Ferrucci
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Aldo Genovesio
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- * E-mail: (AG); (EM)
| | - Encarni Marcos
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
- Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas–Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Sant Joan d’Alacant, Spain
- * E-mail: (AG); (EM)
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Abstract
Movement vigor provides a window on action valuation. But what is vigor, and how to measure it in the first place? Strikingly, many different co-varying vigor-related metrics can be found in the literature. I believe this is because vigor, just like the neural circuits that determine it, is an integrated, low-dimensional parameter. As such, it can only be roughly estimated.
Collapse
|
43
|
The road towards understanding embodied decisions. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 131:722-736. [PMID: 34563562 PMCID: PMC7614807 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.09.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Most current decision-making research focuses on classical economic scenarios, where choice offers are prespecified and where action dynamics play no role in the decision. However, our brains evolved to deal with different choice situations: "embodied decisions". As examples of embodied decisions, consider a lion that has to decide which gazelle to chase in the savannah or a person who has to select the next stone to jump on when crossing a river. Embodied decision settings raise novel questions, such as how people select from time-varying choice options and how they track the most relevant choice attributes; but they have long remained challenging to study empirically. Here, we summarize recent progress in the study of embodied decisions in sports analytics and experimental psychology. Furthermore, we introduce a formal methodology to identify the relevant dimensions of embodied choices (present and future affordances) and to map them into the attributes of classical economic decisions (probabilities and utilities), hence aligning them. Studying embodied decisions will greatly expand our understanding of what decision-making is.
Collapse
|
44
|
Guan Q, Wang J, Chen Y, Liu Y, He H. Beyond information rate, the capacity of cognitive control predicts response criteria in perceptual decision-making. Brain Cogn 2021; 154:105788. [PMID: 34481205 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2021.105788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2021] [Revised: 08/10/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies indicate that higher capacity of cognitive control (CCC) represents higher processing efficiency (i.e., high accuracy with fast speed). However, the speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) exists ubiquitously in decision-making, and little is known about whether and how the CCC is associated with SAT and whether the CCC-SAT relationship would be affected by changes in information entropy. In this study, fifty-nine college students performed a majority function task in which accuracy and response speed were equally emphasized. A Bayesian-based hierarchical drift diffusion modeling method was used to estimate three parameters of boundary separation, drift rate, and nondecision time for each participant in this task. In addition, the CCC of each participant was estimated. The results showed that the CCC was positively correlated with the SAT represented by jointly increasing accuracy and reaction time (RT), which was modulated by the change in task-relevant information entropy. Multiple mediation analyses indicated that drift rate served as the key mediator in the positive CCC-accuracy relationship while boundary separation played the major mediating role in the positive CCC-RT relationship. These findings suggest that the CCC reflects not only the rate of information processing but also decision strategies for achieving current goals.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qing Guan
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China; Center for Neuroimaging, Shenzhen Institute of Neuroscience, Shenzhen, China; Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jing Wang
- Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Center of Psychosomatic Medicine of Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China
| | - Yiqi Chen
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Ying Liu
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Hao He
- Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China; Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science, Shenzhen, China.
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
Giarrocco F, Averbeck B. Organization of Parieto-Prefrontal and Temporo-Prefrontal Networks in the Macaque. J Neurophysiol 2021; 126:1289-1309. [PMID: 34379536 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00092.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The connectivity among architectonically defined areas of the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortex of the macaque has been extensively mapped through tract tracing methods. To investigate the statistical organization underlying this connectivity, and identify its underlying architecture, we performed a hierarchical cluster analysis on 69 cortical areas based on their anatomically defined inputs. We identified 10 frontal, 4 parietal, and 5 temporal hierarchically related sets of areas (clusters), defined by unique sets of inputs and typically composed of anatomically contiguous areas. Across cortex, clusters that share functional properties were linked by dominant information processing circuits in a topographically organized manner that reflects the organization of the main fiber bundles in the cortex. This led to a dorsal-ventral subdivision of the frontal cortex, where dorsal and ventral clusters showed privileged connectivity with parietal and temporal areas, respectively. Ventrally, temporo-frontal circuits encode information to discriminate objects in the environment, their value, emotional properties, and functions such as memory and spatial navigation. Dorsal parieto-frontal circuits encode information for selecting, generating, and monitoring appropriate actions based on visual-spatial and somatosensory information. This organization may reflect evolutionary antecedents, in which the vertebrate pallium, which is the ancestral cortex, was defined by a ventral and lateral olfactory region and a medial hippocampal region.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Franco Giarrocco
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
| | - Bruno Averbeck
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Dacre J, Colligan M, Clarke T, Ammer JJ, Schiemann J, Chamosa-Pino V, Claudi F, Harston JA, Eleftheriou C, Pakan JMP, Huang CC, Hantman AW, Rochefort NL, Duguid I. A cerebellar-thalamocortical pathway drives behavioral context-dependent movement initiation. Neuron 2021; 109:2326-2338.e8. [PMID: 34146469 PMCID: PMC8315304 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.05.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2019] [Revised: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Executing learned motor behaviors often requires the transformation of sensory cues into patterns of motor commands that generate appropriately timed actions. The cerebellum and thalamus are two key areas involved in shaping cortical output and movement, but the contribution of a cerebellar-thalamocortical pathway to voluntary movement initiation remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated how an auditory "go cue" transforms thalamocortical activity patterns and how these changes relate to movement initiation. Population responses in dentate/interpositus-recipient regions of motor thalamus reflect a time-locked increase in activity immediately prior to movement initiation that is temporally uncoupled from the go cue, indicative of a fixed-latency feedforward motor timing signal. Blocking cerebellar or motor thalamic output suppresses movement initiation, while stimulation triggers movements in a behavioral context-dependent manner. Our findings show how cerebellar output, via the thalamus, shapes cortical activity patterns necessary for learned context-dependent movement initiation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joshua Dacre
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Matt Colligan
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Thomas Clarke
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Julian J Ammer
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Julia Schiemann
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Victor Chamosa-Pino
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Federico Claudi
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - J Alex Harston
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Constantinos Eleftheriou
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Janelle M P Pakan
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | | | - Nathalie L Rochefort
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Ian Duguid
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Simons Initiative for the Developing Brain, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
47
|
Takahashi N, Moberg S, Zolnik TA, Catanese J, Sachdev RNS, Larkum ME, Jaeger D. Thalamic input to motor cortex facilitates goal-directed action initiation. Curr Biol 2021; 31:4148-4155.e4. [PMID: 34302741 PMCID: PMC8478854 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.06.089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Prompt execution of planned motor action is essential for survival. The interactions between frontal cortical circuits and the basal ganglia are central to goal-oriented action selection and initiation.1-4 In rodents, the ventromedial thalamic nucleus (VM) is one of the critical nodes that conveys the output of the basal ganglia to the frontal cortical areas including the anterior lateral motor cortex (ALM).5-9 Recent studies showed the critical role of ALM and its interplay with the motor thalamus in preparing sensory-cued rewarded movements, specifically licking.10-12 Work in primates suggests that the basal ganglia output to the motor thalamus transmits an urgency or vigor signal,13-15 which leads to shortened reaction times and faster movement initiation. As yet, little is known about what signals are transmitted from the motor thalamus to the cortex during cued movements and how these signals contribute to movement initiation. In the present study, we employed a tactile-cued licking task in mice while monitoring reaction times of the initial lick. We found that inactivation of ALM delayed the initiation of cued licking. Two-photon Ca2+ imaging of VM axons revealed that the majority of the axon terminals in ALM were transiently active during licking. Their activity was predictive of the time of the first lick. Chemogenetic and optogenetic manipulation of VM axons in ALM indicated that VM inputs facilitate the initiation of cue-triggered and impulsive licking in trained mice. Our results suggest that VM thalamocortical inputs increase the probability and vigor of initiating planned motor responses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Naoya Takahashi
- Institute for Biology, Humboldt University of Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Sara Moberg
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Timothy A Zolnik
- Institute for Biology, Humboldt University of Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Julien Catanese
- Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Robert N S Sachdev
- Institute for Biology, Humboldt University of Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Matthew E Larkum
- Institute for Biology, Humboldt University of Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Dieter Jaeger
- Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
48
|
Guo L, Kondapavulur S, Lemke SM, Won SJ, Ganguly K. Coordinated increase of reliable cortical and striatal ensemble activations during recovery after stroke. Cell Rep 2021; 36:109370. [PMID: 34260929 PMCID: PMC8357409 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2020] [Revised: 03/03/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Skilled movements rely on a coordinated cortical and subcortical network, but how this network supports motor recovery after stroke is unknown. Previous studies focused on the perilesional cortex (PLC), but precisely how connected subcortical areas reorganize and coordinate with PLC is unclear. The dorsolateral striatum (DLS) is of interest because it receives monosynaptic inputs from motor cortex and is important for learning and generation of fast reliable actions. Using a rat focal stroke model, we perform chronic electrophysiological recordings in motor PLC and DLS during long-term recovery of a dexterous skill. We find that recovery is associated with the simultaneous emergence of reliable movement-related single-trial ensemble spiking in both structures along with increased cross-area alignment of spiking. Our study highlights the importance of consistent neural activity patterns across brain structures during recovery and suggests that modulation of cross-area coordination can be a therapeutic target for enhancing motor function post-stroke.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ling Guo
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Neurology and Rehabilitation Service, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA; Department of Neurology & Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Sravani Kondapavulur
- Neurology and Rehabilitation Service, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA; Department of Neurology & Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Medical Scientist Training Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Bioengineering Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Stefan M Lemke
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Neurology and Rehabilitation Service, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA; Department of Neurology & Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Seok Joon Won
- Neurology and Rehabilitation Service, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA; Department of Neurology & Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Karunesh Ganguly
- Neurology and Rehabilitation Service, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA; Department of Neurology & Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Bioengineering Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Yau Y, Hinault T, Taylor M, Cisek P, Fellows LK, Dagher A. Evidence and Urgency Related EEG Signals during Dynamic Decision-Making in Humans. J Neurosci 2021; 41:5711-5722. [PMID: 34035140 PMCID: PMC8244970 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2551-20.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Revised: 03/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A successful class of models link decision-making to brain signals by assuming that evidence accumulates to a decision threshold. These evidence accumulation models have identified neuronal activity that appears to reflect sensory evidence and decision variables that drive behavior. More recently, an additional evidence-independent and time-variant signal, called urgency, has been hypothesized to accelerate decisions in the face of insufficient evidence. However, most decision-making paradigms tested with fMRI or EEG in humans have not been designed to disentangle evidence accumulation from urgency. Here we use a face-morphing decision-making task in combination with EEG and a hierarchical Bayesian model to identify neural signals related to sensory and decision variables, and to test the urgency-gating model. Forty females and 34 males took part (mean age, 23.4 years). We find that an evoked potential time locked to the decision, the centroparietal positivity, reflects the decision variable from the computational model. We further show that the unfolding of this signal throughout the decision process best reflects the product of sensory evidence and an evidence-independent urgency signal. Urgency varied across subjects, suggesting that it may represent an individual trait. Our results show that it is possible to use EEG to distinguish neural signals related to sensory evidence accumulation, decision variables, and urgency. These mechanisms expose principles of cognitive function in general and may have applications to the study of pathologic decision-making such as in impulse control and addictive disorders.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Perceptual decisions are often described by a class of models that assumes that sensory evidence accumulates gradually over time until a decision threshold is reached. In the present study, we demonstrate that an additional urgency signal impacts how decisions are formed. This endogenous signal encourages one to respond as time elapses. We found that neural decision signals measured by EEG reflect the product of sensory evidence and an evidence-independent urgency signal. A nuanced understanding of human decisions, and the neural mechanisms that support it, can improve decision-making in many situations and potentially ameliorate dysfunction when it has gone awry.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yvonne Yau
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Québec H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Thomas Hinault
- U1077 Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, École pratique des hautes études, Université de Caen Normandie, 14032 Caen, France
| | - Madeline Taylor
- Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario N6A 5C1, Canada
| | - Paul Cisek
- Département de Neuroscience, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec H3T 1T9, Canada
| | - Lesley K Fellows
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Québec H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Alain Dagher
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Québec H3A 2B4, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
50
|
Cross KA, Malekmohammadi M, Woo Choi J, Pouratian N. Movement-related changes in pallidocortical synchrony differentiate action execution and observation in humans. Clin Neurophysiol 2021; 132:1990-2001. [PMID: 33980469 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2021.03.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Revised: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Suppression of local and network alpha and beta oscillations in the human basal ganglia-thalamocortical (BGTC) circuit is a prominent feature of movement, including suppression of local alpha/beta power, cross-region beta phase coupling, and cortical and subcortical phase-amplitude coupling (PAC). We hypothesized that network-level coupling is more directly related to movement execution than local power changes, given the role of pathological network hypersynchrony in movement disorders such as Parkinson disease (PD). Understanding the specificity of these movement-related signals is important for designing novel therapeutics. METHODS We recorded globus pallidus internus (GPi) and motor cortical local field potentials during movement execution, passive movement observation and rest in 12 patients with PD undergoing deep brain stimulator implantation. RESULTS Local alpha/beta power is suppressed in the globus pallidus and motor cortex during both action execution and action observation, although less so during action observation. In contrast, pallidocortical phase synchrony and GPi and motor cortical alpha/beta-gamma PAC are suppressed only during action execution. CONCLUSIONS The functional dissociation across tasks in pallidocortical network activity suggests a particularly important role of network coupling in motor execution. SIGNIFICANCE Network level recordings provide important specificity in differentiating motor behavior and may provide significant value for future closed loop therapies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katy A Cross
- Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
| | | | - Jeong Woo Choi
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
| | - Nader Pouratian
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
| |
Collapse
|