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White SR, Preston MW, Swanson K, Laubach M. Learning to Choose: Behavioral Dynamics Underlying the Initial Acquisition of Decision-Making. eNeuro 2024; 11:ENEURO.0142-24.2024. [PMID: 38724267 PMCID: PMC11103646 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0142-24.2024] [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: 04/01/2024] [Revised: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Current theories of decision-making propose that decisions arise through competition between choice options. Computational models of the decision process estimate how quickly information about choice options is integrated and how much information is needed to trigger a choice. Experiments using this approach typically report data from well-trained participants. As such, we do not know how the decision process evolves as a decision-making task is learned for the first time. To address this gap, we used a behavioral design separating learning the value of choice options from learning to make choices. We trained male rats to respond to single visual stimuli with different reward values. Then, we trained them to make choices between pairs of stimuli. Initially, the rats responded more slowly when presented with choices. However, as they gained experience in making choices, this slowing reduced. Response slowing on choice trials persisted throughout the testing period. We found that it was specifically associated with increased exponential variability when the rats chose the higher value stimulus. Additionally, our analysis using drift diffusion modeling revealed that the rats required less information to make choices over time. These reductions in the decision threshold occurred after just a single session of choice learning. These findings provide new insights into the learning process of decision-making tasks. They suggest that the value of choice options and the ability to make choices are learned separately and that experience plays a crucial role in improving decision-making performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha R White
- Department of Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC 20016
| | - Michael W Preston
- Department of Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC 20016
| | - Kyra Swanson
- Department of Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC 20016
| | - Mark Laubach
- Department of Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC 20016
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2
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Benn A, Robinson ESJ. Development of a novel rodent rapid serial visual presentation task reveals dissociable effects of stimulant versus nonstimulant treatments on attentional processes. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2024; 24:351-367. [PMID: 38253774 PMCID: PMC11039523 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-023-01152-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
The rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task and continuous performance tasks (CPT) are used to assess attentional impairments in patients with psychiatric and neurological conditions. This study developed a novel touchscreen task for rats based on the structure of a human RSVP task and used pharmacological manipulations to investigate their effects on different performance measures. Normal animals were trained to respond to a target image and withhold responding to distractor images presented within a continuous sequence. In a second version of the task, a false-alarm image was included, so performance could be assessed relative to two types of nontarget distractors. The effects of acute administration of stimulant and nonstimulant treatments for ADHD (amphetamine and atomoxetine) were tested in both tasks. Methylphenidate, ketamine, and nicotine were tested in the first task only. Amphetamine made animals more impulsive and decreased overall accuracy but increased accuracy when the target was presented early in the image sequence. Atomoxetine improved accuracy overall with a specific reduction in false-alarm responses and a shift in the attentional curve reflecting improved accuracy for targets later in the image sequence. However, atomoxetine also slowed responding and increased omissions. Ketamine, nicotine, and methylphenidate had no specific effects at the doses tested. These results suggest that stimulant versus nonstimulant treatments have different effects on attention and impulsive behaviour in this rat version of an RSVP task. These results also suggest that RSVP-like tasks have the potential to be used to study attention in rodents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail Benn
- University of Bristol, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences Building, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK
| | - Emma S J Robinson
- University of Bristol, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences Building, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK.
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3
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White SR, Preston MW, Swanson K, Laubach M. Learning to Choose: Behavioral Dynamics Underlying the Initial Acquisition of Decision Making. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.28.582581. [PMID: 38464283 PMCID: PMC10925347 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.28.582581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/12/2024]
Abstract
Current theories of decision making propose that decisions arise through competition between choice options. Computational models of the decision process estimate how quickly information about choice options is integrated and how much information is needed to trigger a choice. Experiments using this approach typically report data from well-trained participants. As such, we do not know how the decision process evolves as a decision-making task is learned for the first time. To address this gap, we used a behavioral design separating learning the value of choice options from learning to make choices. We trained male rats to respond to single visual stimuli with different reward values. Then, we trained them to make choices between pairs of stimuli. Initially, the rats responded more slowly when presented with choices. However, as they gained experience in making choices, this slowing reduced. Response slowing on choice trials persisted throughout the testing period. We found that it was specifically associated with increased exponential variability when the rats chose the higher value stimulus. Additionally, our analysis using drift diffusion modeling revealed that the rats required less information to make choices over time. Surprisingly, we observed reductions in the decision threshold after just a single session of choice learning. These findings provide new insights into the learning process of decision-making tasks. They suggest that the value of choice options and the ability to make choices are learned separately, and that experience plays a crucial role in improving decision-making performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha R White
- Department of Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Michael W Preston
- Department of Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Kyra Swanson
- Department of Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Mark Laubach
- Department of Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC, USA
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4
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Mafi F, Tang MF, Afarinesh MR, Ghasemian S, Sheibani V, Arabzadeh E. Temporal order judgment of multisensory stimuli in rat and human. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 16:1070452. [PMID: 36710957 PMCID: PMC9879721 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1070452] [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: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
We do not fully understand the resolution at which temporal information is processed by different species. Here we employed a temporal order judgment (TOJ) task in rats and humans to test the temporal precision with which these species can detect the order of presentation of simple stimuli across two modalities of vision and audition. Both species reported the order of audiovisual stimuli when they were presented from a central location at a range of stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA)s. While both species could reliably distinguish the temporal order of stimuli based on their sensory content (i.e., the modality label), rats outperformed humans at short SOAs (less than 100 ms) whereas humans outperformed rats at long SOAs (greater than 100 ms). Moreover, rats produced faster responses compared to humans. The reaction time data further revealed key differences in decision process across the two species: at longer SOAs, reaction times increased in rats but decreased in humans. Finally, drift-diffusion modeling allowed us to isolate the contribution of various parameters including evidence accumulation rates, lapse and bias to the sensory decision. Consistent with the psychophysical findings, the model revealed higher temporal sensitivity and a higher lapse rate in rats compared to humans. These findings suggest that these species applied different strategies for making perceptual decisions in the context of a multimodal TOJ task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatemeh Mafi
- Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Matthew F. Tang
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Mohammad Reza Afarinesh
- Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Sadegh Ghasemian
- Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Vahid Sheibani
- Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
| | - Ehsan Arabzadeh
- Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
- Cognitive Neuroscience Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
- Eccles Institute of Neuroscience, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
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5
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Masís J, Chapman T, Rhee JY, Cox DD, Saxe AM. Strategically managing learning during perceptual decision making. eLife 2023; 12:64978. [PMID: 36786427 PMCID: PMC9928425 DOI: 10.7554/elife.64978] [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: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Making optimal decisions in the face of noise requires balancing short-term speed and accuracy. But a theory of optimality should account for the fact that short-term speed can influence long-term accuracy through learning. Here, we demonstrate that long-term learning is an important dynamical dimension of the speed-accuracy trade-off. We study learning trajectories in rats and formally characterize these dynamics in a theory expressed as both a recurrent neural network and an analytical extension of the drift-diffusion model that learns over time. The model reveals that choosing suboptimal response times to learn faster sacrifices immediate reward, but can lead to greater total reward. We empirically verify predictions of the theory, including a relationship between stimulus exposure and learning speed, and a modulation of reaction time by future learning prospects. We find that rats' strategies approximately maximize total reward over the full learning epoch, suggesting cognitive control over the learning process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Masís
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States,Center for Brain Science, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - Travis Chapman
- Center for Brain Science, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - Juliana Y Rhee
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States,Center for Brain Science, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - David D Cox
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States,Center for Brain Science, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
| | - Andrew M Saxe
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
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Nguyen QN, Reinagel P. Different Forms of Variability Could Explain a Difference Between Human and Rat Decision Making. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:794681. [PMID: 35273473 PMCID: PMC8902138 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.794681] [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: 10/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
When observers make rapid, difficult perceptual decisions, their response time is highly variable from trial to trial. In a visual motion discrimination task, it has been reported that human accuracy declines with increasing response time, whereas rat accuracy increases with response time. This is of interest because different mathematical theories of decision-making differ in their predictions regarding the correlation of accuracy with response time. On the premise that perceptual decision-making mechanisms are likely to be conserved among mammals, we seek to unify the rodent and primate results in a common theoretical framework. We show that a bounded drift diffusion model (DDM) can explain both effects with variable parameters: trial-to-trial variability in the starting point of the diffusion process produces the pattern typically observed in rats, whereas variability in the drift rate produces the pattern typically observed in humans. We further show that the same effects can be produced by deterministic biases, even in the absence of parameter stochasticity or parameter change within a trial.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pamela Reinagel
- Section of Neurobiology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
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Sriram B, Li L, Cruz-Martín A, Ghosh A. A Sparse Probabilistic Code Underlies the Limits of Behavioral Discrimination. Cereb Cortex 2021; 30:1040-1055. [PMID: 31403676 PMCID: PMC7132908 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2018] [Revised: 05/19/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The cortical code that underlies perception must enable subjects to perceive the world at time scales relevant for behavior. We find that mice can integrate visual stimuli very quickly (<100 ms) to reach plateau performance in an orientation discrimination task. To define features of cortical activity that underlie performance at these time scales, we measured single-unit responses in the mouse visual cortex at time scales relevant to this task. In contrast to high-contrast stimuli of longer duration, which elicit reliable activity in individual neurons, stimuli at the threshold of perception elicit extremely sparse and unreliable responses in the primary visual cortex such that the activity of individual neurons does not reliably report orientation. Integrating information across neurons, however, quickly improves performance. Using a linear decoding model, we estimate that integrating information over 50–100 neurons is sufficient to account for behavioral performance. Thus, at the limits of visual perception, the visual system integrates information encoded in the probabilistic firing of unreliable single units to generate reliable behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Balaji Sriram
- Division of Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.,Research and Early Development, Biogen, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Lillian Li
- Division of Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Alberto Cruz-Martín
- Department of Biology.,Neurophotonics Center.,Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Anirvan Ghosh
- Division of Biology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.,Research and Early Development, Biogen, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
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8
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Norris RHC, Churilov L, Hannan AJ, Nithianantharajah J. Mutations in neuroligin-3 in male mice impact behavioral flexibility but not relational memory in a touchscreen test of visual transitive inference. Mol Autism 2019; 10:42. [PMID: 31827744 PMCID: PMC6889473 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-019-0292-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2019] [Accepted: 10/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Cognitive dysfunction including disrupted behavioral flexibility is central to neurodevelopmental disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A cognitive measure that assesses relational memory, and the ability to flexibly assimilate and transfer learned information is transitive inference. Transitive inference is highly conserved across vertebrates and disrupted in cognitive disorders. Here, we examined how mutations in the synaptic cell-adhesion molecule neuroligin-3 (Nlgn3) that have been documented in ASD impact relational memory and behavioral flexibility. We first refined a rodent touchscreen assay to measure visual transitive inference, then assessed two mouse models of Nlgn3 dysfunction (Nlgn3−/y and Nlgn3R451C). Deep analysis of touchscreen behavioral data at a trial level established we could measure trajectories in flexible responding and changes in processing speed as cognitive load increased. We show that gene mutations in Nlgn3 do not disrupt relational memory, but significantly impact flexible responding. Our study presents the first analysis of reaction times in a rodent transitive inference test, highlighting response latencies from the touchscreen system are useful indicators of processing demands or decision-making processes. These findings expand our understanding of how dysfunction of key components of synaptic signaling complexes impact distinct cognitive processes disrupted in neurodevelopmental disorders, and advance our approaches for dissecting rodent behavioral assays to provide greater insights into clinically relevant cognitive symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca H C Norris
- 1Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria Australia
| | - Leonid Churilov
- 2Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, 245 Burgundy St, Heidelberg, Victoria Australia.,3Department of Medicine - Austin Health, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, 245 Burgundy St, Heidelberg, Victoria Australia
| | - Anthony J Hannan
- 1Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria Australia.,4Florey Department of Neuroscience, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria Australia.,5Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria Australia
| | - Jess Nithianantharajah
- 1Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria Australia.,4Florey Department of Neuroscience, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria Australia
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9
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Shevinsky CA, Reinagel P. The Interaction Between Elapsed Time and Decision Accuracy Differs Between Humans and Rats. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:1211. [PMID: 31803002 PMCID: PMC6877602 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.01211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
A stochastic visual motion discrimination task is widely used to study rapid decision-making in humans and animals. Among trials of the same sensory difficulty within a block of fixed decision strategy, humans and monkeys are widely reported to make more errors in the individual trials with longer reaction times. This finding has posed a challenge for the drift-diffusion model of sensory decision-making, which in its basic form predicts that errors and correct responses should have the same reaction time distributions. We previously reported that rats also violate this model prediction, but in the opposite direction: for rats, motion discrimination accuracy was highest in the trials with the longest reaction times. To rule out task differences as the cause of our divergent finding in rats, the present study tested humans and rats using the same task and analyzed their data identically. We confirmed that rats' accuracy increased with reaction time, whereas humans' accuracy decreased with reaction time in the same task. These results were further verified using a new temporally local analysis method, ruling out that the observed trend was an artifact of non-stationarity in the data of either species. The main effect was found whether the signal strength (motion coherence) was varied in randomly interleaved trials or held constant within a block. The magnitude of the effects increased with motion coherence. These results provide new constraints useful for refining and discriminating among the many alternative mathematical theories of decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Pamela Reinagel
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
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10
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Camon J, Hugues S, Erlandson MA, Robbe D, Lagoun S, Marouane E, Bureau I. The Timing of Sensory-Guided Behavioral Response is Represented in the Mouse Primary Somatosensory Cortex. Cereb Cortex 2019; 29:3034-3047. [PMID: 30060069 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2018] [Revised: 06/01/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Whisker-guided decision making in mice is thought to critically depend on information processing occurring in the primary somatosensory cortex. However, it is not clear if neuronal activity in this "early" sensory region contains information about the timing and speed of motor response. To address this question we designed a new task in which freely moving mice learned to associate a whisker stimulus to reward delivery. The task was tailored in such a way that a wide range of delays between whisker stimulation and reward collection were observed due to differences of motivation and perception. After training, mice were anesthetized and neuronal responses evoked by stimulating trained and untrained whiskers were recorded across several cortical columns of barrel cortex. We found a strong correlation between the delay of the mouse behavioral response and the timing of multiunit activity evoked by the trained whisker, outside its principal cortical column, in layers 4 and 5A but not in layer 2/3. Circuit mapping ex vivo revealed this effect was associated with a weakening of layer 4 to layer 2/3 projection. We conclude that the processes controlling the propagation of key sensory inputs to naive cortical columns and the timing of sensory-guided action are linked.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérémy Camon
- INMED, INSERM U1249, Université Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France
| | - Sandrine Hugues
- INMED, INSERM U1249, Université Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France
| | | | - David Robbe
- INMED, INSERM U1249, Université Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France
| | - Sabria Lagoun
- INMED, INSERM U1249, Université Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France
| | - Emna Marouane
- INMED, INSERM U1249, Université Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France
| | - Ingrid Bureau
- INMED, INSERM U1249, Université Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France
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Kasozi KI, Mbiydzneyuy NE, Namubiru S, Safiriyu AA, Sulaiman SO, Okpanachi AO, Ninsiima HI. A study on visual, audio and tactile reaction time among medical students at Kampala International University in Uganda. Afr Health Sci 2018; 18:828-836. [PMID: 30603017 PMCID: PMC6307023 DOI: 10.4314/ahs.v18i3.42] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Reaction time (RT) is an indicator of neural activity, however, its variation due to visual (VRT), audio (ART) and tactile (TRT) in African medical students has not been investigated. The aim of the study was to determine relationships between VRT, ART and TRT amongst medical students in Uganda. MATERIALS AND METHODS This was a cross sectional study, the body mass index (BMI) and RT (i.e. VRT, ART and TRT) were determined using weighing scale with standiometer and the catch a ruler experiment respectively. A questionnaire was administered to collect information on participant's lifestyle patterns and analysis was done using SPSS Version 20. RESULTS The mean (± SEM) VRT, ART and TRT in the study were found to be 0.148 ± 0.002s, 0.141 ± 0.002s and 0.139 ± 0.003s respectively. A strong correlation between TRT and ART was found to exist in the youthful Ugandan medical student's population. Furthermore, significant differences in ART and VRT were observed with sex, although these were absent amongst preclinical and clinical students, showing the importance of sex in RT. CONCLUSION The low VRT and ART in Ugandan medical students is indicative of a healthy somatosensory connectivity, thus of academic importance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keneth Iceland Kasozi
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Kampala International University Western Campus, Box 71, Bushenyi, Uganda
| | - Ngala Elvis Mbiydzneyuy
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Kampala International University Western Campus, Box 71, Bushenyi, Uganda
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde 1, Box 1364, Cameroon
| | - Sarah Namubiru
- College of Veterinary Medicine and Biosecurity, Makerere University, Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Abass Alao Safiriyu
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Kampala International University Western Campus, Box 71, Bushenyi, Uganda
| | - Sheu Oluwadare Sulaiman
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kampala International University, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Alfred O Okpanachi
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Kampala International University Western Campus, Box 71, Bushenyi, Uganda
| | - Herbert Izo Ninsiima
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Kampala International University Western Campus, Box 71, Bushenyi, Uganda
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12
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Reinagel P. Training Rats Using Water Rewards Without Water Restriction. Front Behav Neurosci 2018; 12:84. [PMID: 29773982 PMCID: PMC5943498 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2018] [Accepted: 04/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
High-throughput behavioral training of rodents has been a transformative development for systems neuroscience. Water or food restriction is typically required to motivate task engagement. We hypothesized a gap between physiological water need and hedonic water satiety that could be leveraged to train rats for water rewards without water restriction. We show that when Citric Acid (CA) is added to water, female rats drink less, yet consume enough to maintain long term health. With 24 h/day access to a visual task with water rewards, rats with ad lib CA water performed 84% ± 18% as many trials as in the same task under water restriction. In 2-h daily sessions, rats with ad lib CA water performed 68% ± 13% as many trials as under water restriction. Using reward sizes <25 μl, rats with ad lib CA performed 804 ± 285 trials/day in live-in sessions or 364 ± 82 trials/day in limited duration daily sessions. The safety of CA water amendment was previously shown for male rats, and the gap between water need and satiety was similar to what we observed in females. Therefore, it is likely that this method will generalize to male rats, though this remains to be shown. We conclude that at least in some contexts rats can be trained using water rewards without water restriction, benefitting both animal welfare and scientific productivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pamela Reinagel
- Section of Neurobiology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
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13
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Zoccolan D, Cox DD, Benucci A. Editorial: What can simple brains teach us about how vision works. Front Neural Circuits 2015; 9:51. [PMID: 26483639 PMCID: PMC4586271 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2015.00051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2015] [Accepted: 09/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Davide Zoccolan
- Visual Neuroscience Lab, International School for Advanced Studies Trieste, Italy
| | - David D Cox
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Andrea Benucci
- Laboratory for Neural Circuit and Behavior, RIKEN Brain Science Institute Wako City, Japan
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14
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Rosselli FB, Alemi A, Ansuini A, Zoccolan D. Object similarity affects the perceptual strategy underlying invariant visual object recognition in rats. Front Neural Circuits 2015; 9:10. [PMID: 25814936 PMCID: PMC4357263 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2015.00010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2014] [Accepted: 02/23/2015] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, a number of studies have explored the possible use of rats as models of high-level visual functions. One central question at the root of such an investigation is to understand whether rat object vision relies on the processing of visual shape features or, rather, on lower-order image properties (e.g., overall brightness). In a recent study, we have shown that rats are capable of extracting multiple features of an object that are diagnostic of its identity, at least when those features are, structure-wise, distinct enough to be parsed by the rat visual system. In the present study, we have assessed the impact of object structure on rat perceptual strategy. We trained rats to discriminate between two structurally similar objects, and compared their recognition strategies with those reported in our previous study. We found that, under conditions of lower stimulus discriminability, rat visual discrimination strategy becomes more view-dependent and subject-dependent. Rats were still able to recognize the target objects, in a way that was largely tolerant (i.e., invariant) to object transformation; however, the larger structural and pixel-wise similarity affected the way objects were processed. Compared to the findings of our previous study, the patterns of diagnostic features were: (i) smaller and more scattered; (ii) only partially preserved across object views; and (iii) only partially reproducible across rats. On the other hand, rats were still found to adopt a multi-featural processing strategy and to make use of part of the optimal discriminatory information afforded by the two objects. Our findings suggest that, as in humans, rat invariant recognition can flexibly rely on either view-invariant representations of distinctive object features or view-specific object representations, acquired through learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica B Rosselli
- Visual Neuroscience Lab, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) Trieste, Italy
| | - Alireza Alemi
- Visual Neuroscience Lab, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) Trieste, Italy ; Department of Applied Science and Technology, Center for Computational Sciences, Politecnico di Torino Torino, Italy ; Human Genetics Foundation Torino, Italy
| | - Alessio Ansuini
- Visual Neuroscience Lab, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) Trieste, Italy
| | - Davide Zoccolan
- Visual Neuroscience Lab, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) Trieste, Italy
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15
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Kurylo DD, Chung C, Yeturo S, Lanza J, Gorskaya A, Bukhari F. Effects of contrast, spatial frequency, and stimulus duration on reaction time in rats. Vision Res 2014; 106:20-6. [PMID: 25451244 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2014.10.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2014] [Revised: 10/03/2014] [Accepted: 10/08/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Early visual processing in rats is mediated by several pre-cortical pathways as well as multiple retinal ganglion cell types that vary in response characteristics. Discrete processing is thereby optimized for select ranges of stimulus parameters. In order to explore variation in response characteristics at a perceptual level, visual detection in rats was measured across a range of contrasts, spatial frequencies, and durations. Rats responded to the onset of Gabor patches. Onset time occurred after a random delay, and reaction time (RT) frequency distribution served to index target visibility. It was found that lower spatial frequency produced shorter RTs, as well as increased RT equivalent of contrast gain. Brief stimulus presentation reduced target visibility, slowed RTs, and reduced contrast gain at higher spatial frequencies. However, brief stimuli shortened RTs at low contrasts and low spatial frequencies, suggesting transient stimuli are more efficiently processed under these conditions. Collectively, perceptual characteristics appear to reflect distinctions in neural responses at early stages of processing. The RT characteristics found here may thereby reflect the contribution of multiple channels, and suggest a progressive shift in relative involvement across parameter levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel D Kurylo
- Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College CUNY, Brooklyn, NY 11210, United States.
| | - Caroline Chung
- Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College CUNY, Brooklyn, NY 11210, United States
| | - Sowmya Yeturo
- Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College CUNY, Brooklyn, NY 11210, United States
| | - Joseph Lanza
- Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College CUNY, Brooklyn, NY 11210, United States
| | - Arina Gorskaya
- Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College CUNY, Brooklyn, NY 11210, United States
| | - Farhan Bukhari
- Department of Computer Science, The Graduate Center CUNY, New York, NY 10016, United States
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16
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Soma S, Suematsu N, Shimegi S. Efficient training protocol for rapid learning of the two-alternative forced-choice visual stimulus detection task. Physiol Rep 2014; 2:2/7/e12060. [PMID: 24994895 PMCID: PMC4187546 DOI: 10.14814/phy2.12060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The potential of genetically engineered rodent models has accelerated demand for training procedures of behavioral tasks. Such training is generally time consuming and often shows large variability in learning speed between animals. To overcome these problems, we developed an efficient and stable training system for the two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) visual stimulus detection task for freely behaving rodents. To facilitate the task learning, we introduced a spout-lever as the operandum and a three-step training program with four ingenuities: (1) a salient stimulus to draw passive attention, (2) a reward-guaranteed trial to keep motivation, (3) a behavior-corrective trial, and (4) switching from a reward-guaranteed trial to a nonguaranteed one to correct behavioral patterns. Our new training system realizes 1-week completion of the whole learning process, during which all rats were able to learn effortlessly the association between (1) lever-manipulation and reward and (2) visual stimulus and reward in a step-by-step manner. Thus, our new system provides an effective and stable training method for the 2AFC visual stimulus detection task. This method should help accelerate the move toward research bridging the visual functions measured in behavioral tasks and the contributing specific neurons/networks that are genetically manipulated or optically controlled.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shogo Soma
- Laboratory of Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan
| | - Naofumi Suematsu
- Laboratory of Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan
| | - Satoshi Shimegi
- Laboratory of Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan
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17
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Salinas E, Scerra VE, Hauser CK, Costello MG, Stanford TR. Decoupling speed and accuracy in an urgent decision-making task reveals multiple contributions to their trade-off. Front Neurosci 2014; 8:85. [PMID: 24795559 PMCID: PMC4005963 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2014] [Accepted: 04/02/2014] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
A key goal in the study of decision making is determining how neural networks involved in perception and motor planning interact to generate a given choice, but this is complicated due to the internal trade-off between speed and accuracy, which confounds their individual contributions. Urgent decisions, however, are special: they may range between random and fully informed, depending on the amount of processing time (or stimulus viewing time) available in each trial, but regardless, movement preparation always starts early on. As a consequence, under time pressure it is possible to produce a psychophysical curve that characterizes perceptual performance independently of reaction time, and this, in turn, makes it possible to pinpoint how perceptual information (which requires sensory input) modulates motor planning (which does not) to guide a choice. Here we review experiments in which, on the basis of this approach, the origin of the speed-accuracy trade-off becomes particularly transparent. Psychophysical, neurophysiological, and modeling results in the "compelled-saccade" task indicate that, during urgent decision making, perceptual information-if and whenever it becomes available-accelerates or decelerates competing motor plans that are already ongoing. This interaction affects both the reaction time and the probability of success in any given trial. In two experiments with reward asymmetries, we find that speed and accuracy can be traded in different amounts and for different reasons, depending on how the particular task contingencies affect specific neural mechanisms related to perception and motor planning. Therefore, from the vantage point of urgent decisions, the speed-accuracy trade-off is not a unique phenomenon tied to a single underlying mechanism, but rather a typical outcome of many possible combinations of internal adjustments within sensory-motor neural circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilio Salinas
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Veronica E Scerra
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Christopher K Hauser
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - M Gabriela Costello
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Terrence R Stanford
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest School of Medicine Winston-Salem, NC, USA
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