Coherent delta-band oscillations between cortical areas correlate with decision making

Neural correlations during a cognitive task are central to study brain information processing and computation. However, they have been poorly analyzed due to the difficulty of recording simultaneous single neurons during task performance. In the present work, we quantified neural directional correlations using spike trains that were simultaneously recorded in sensory, premotor, and motor cortical areas of two monkeys during a somatosensory discrimination task. Upon modeling spike trains as binary time series, we used a nonparametric Bayesian method to estimate pairwise directional correlations between many pairs of neurons throughout different stages of the task, namely, perception, working memory, decision making, and motor report. We find that solving the task involves feedforward and feedback correlation paths linking sensory and motor areas during certain task intervals. Specifically, information is communicated by task-driven neural correlations that are significantly delayed across secondary somatosensory cortex, premotor, and motor areas when decision making takes place. Crucially, when sensory comparison is no longer requested for task performance, a major proportion of directional correlations consistently vanish across all cortical areas.

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A somatosensory-to-motor cascade of cortical areas engaged in perceptual decision making during tactile pattern discrimination

Human Brain Mapping ◽

10.1002/hbm.23446 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 38 (3) ◽

pp. 1172-1181 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Yiwen Li Hegner ◽

Axel Lindner ◽

Christoph Braun

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Pattern Discrimination ◽

Perceptual Decision Making ◽

Perceptual Decision ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Tactile Pattern

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Cognitive experience alters cortical involvement in navigation decisions

10.1101/2021.12.10.472106 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher D Harvey ◽

Charlotte Arlt ◽

Roberto Barroso-Luque ◽

Shinichiro Kira ◽

Carissa A Bruno ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Neural Activity ◽

Calcium Imaging ◽

Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽

Retrosplenial Cortex ◽

Neuron Activity ◽

Decision Task ◽

Simple Task ◽

Critical Determinant ◽

Cortical Areas

The neural correlates of decision-making have been investigated extensively, and recent work aims to identify under what conditions cortex is actually necessary for making accurate decisions. We discovered that mice with distinct cognitive experiences, beyond sensory and motor learning, use different cortical areas and neural activity patterns to solve the same task, revealing past learning as a critical determinant of whether cortex is necessary for decision-making. We used optogenetics and calcium imaging to study the necessity and neural activity of multiple cortical areas in mice with different training histories. Posterior parietal cortex and retrosplenial cortex were mostly dispensable for accurate decision-making in mice performing a simple navigation-based decision task. In contrast, these areas were essential for the same simple task when mice were previously trained on complex tasks with delay periods or association switches. Multi-area calcium imaging showed that, in mice with complex-task experience, single-neuron activity had higher selectivity and neuron-neuron correlations were weaker, leading to codes with higher task information. Therefore, past experience sets the landscape for how future tasks are solved by the brain and is a key factor in determining whether cortical areas have a causal role in decision-making.

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Decision making, performance and outcome monitoring in frontal cortical areas

Nature Neuroscience ◽

10.1038/nn1104-1173 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 7 (11) ◽

pp. 1173-1174 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

Markus Ullsperger ◽

D Yves von Cramon

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Outcome Monitoring

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Prefrontal Cortex

Handbook of Brain Microcircuits ◽

10.1093/med/9780190636111.003.0007 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 75-84

Author(s):

Xiao-Jing Wang

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Working Memory ◽

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Pyramidal Neurons ◽

Synaptic Integration ◽

Input Output ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Inhibitory Circuit ◽

Distinct Features ◽

The Brain

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) circuits are characterized by several distinct features. First, the input–output connections of a PFC circuit with the rest of the brain are extraordinarily extensive. In the primates, pyramidal neurons in PFC are greatly more spinous than in the primary sensory areas, so they have a much larger capacity for synaptic integration. Second, PFC areas are endowed with strong intrinsic recurrent connections that are sufficient to generate reverberatory activity underlying working memory and decision-making. Third, excitation and inhibition are balanced dynamically. Unlike early sensory cortical areas, in the frontal areas of both monkey and mouse, the synaptic inhibitory circuit is predominated by GABAergic cell subclasses that are dedicated to controlling inputs to, rather than outputs from, pyramidal neurons, likely reflecting the functional demand of selectively gating input pathways into the PFC in accordance with the behavioral context and goals.

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Correlates of auditory decision making in prefrontal, auditory, and basal lateral amygdala cortical areas

Journal of Neuroscience ◽

10.1523/jneurosci.2217-20.2020 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. JN-RM-2217-20

Author(s):

Julia L. Napoli ◽

Corrie R. Camalier ◽

Anna Leigh Brown ◽

Jessica Jacobs ◽

Mortimer M. Mishkin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Lateral Amygdala ◽

Cortical Areas

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0354 Age-Related Spectral Changes in NREM And REM Sleep in Mice are Global and Not Local

SLEEP ◽

10.1093/sleep/zsaa056.351 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 43 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. A134-A134

Author(s):

J Dube ◽

J Lina ◽

S Soltani ◽

S Chauvette ◽

O Bukhtiyarova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rem Sleep ◽

Spectral Power ◽

Nrem Sleep ◽

Global Changes ◽

Brain Topography ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Age Related ◽

Delta Band ◽

Sleep Homeostasis ◽

Age Related Changes

Abstract Introduction Brain topography modulates age-related changes in the human sleep electroencephalogram, which are linked with differences in integrity of specific cortical areas and may reflect local changes in sleep homeostasis. In mice, there is conflicting evidence regarding the topography of age-related changes for NREM and REM sleep. To disambiguate this issue, we investigated in mice the topography of age-related spectral differences for REM and NREM sleep. Methods LFP electrodes were implanted in 5 cortical areas and in the hippocampus of 17 C57/BL6 mice (8 young and 9 old, mean age = 7.5 and 16 months). Mice LFPs were recorded for a week and states of vigilance were semi-automatically detected in light and dark periods (12h-12h). Spectral analysis was run on 4s windows. Values were averaged for each electrode and in each period of the light/dark cycle in REM/NREM sleep for slow delta (0.25-2Hz), delta (2-4Hz), theta (4-8Hz), sigma (10-16Hz) and ripples (150-200Hz). Mixed models were computed separately for REM and NREM in dark and light period, with age as group factor and electrode and frequency as repeated factors. Results Two-way interactions were found between age and frequency and between electrode and frequency, for NREM and REM in dark and light periods. Each frequency band, except ripples, showed a topographical signature in NREM and REM (e.g. higher power in anterior compared to posterior areas for delta band in NREM sleep). These relative patterns did not change in older mice, but global changes occurred on all electrodes: in older mice, delta power was globally higher in NREM and REM sleep whereas sigma power was lower in REM sleep. Conclusion Age-related changes in spectral power of sleeping mice do not vary according to brain topography as in humans. Sleep deprivation studies are needed to investigate whether age is associated with global changes in sleep homeostasis in mice. Support This work has been supported by the Quebec Fonds de Recherche Nature et Technologies (FQRNT).

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Causal correlation paths across cortical areas in decision making

BMC Neuroscience ◽

10.1186/1471-2202-15-s1-o7 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 15 (S1) ◽

Author(s):

Adrià Tauste Campo ◽

Marina Martinez-Garcia ◽

Verónica Nácher ◽

Gustavo Deco ◽

Ranulfo Romo

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Cortical Areas

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Engagement of pulvino-cortical feedforward and feedback pathways in cognitive computations

10.1101/322560 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jorge Jaramillo ◽

Jorge F. Mejias ◽

Xiao-Jing Wang

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Working Memory ◽

Thalamic Reticular Nucleus ◽

Reticular Nucleus ◽

Attentional Processing ◽

Contextual Modulation ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Behavioral Observations ◽

Cortical Circuit ◽

Feedback Pathways

AbstractComputational modeling of brain mechanisms of cognition has been largely focused on the cortex, but recent experiments have shown that higher-order nuclei of the thalamus, in particular the pulvinar, participate in major cognitive functions and are implicated in psychiatric disorders. Here we show that a pulvino-cortical circuit model, composed of two cortical areas and the pulvinar, captures a range of physiological and behavioral observations related to the macaque pulvinar. Effective connections between the two cortical areas are gated by the pulvinar, allowing the pulvinar to shift the operation regime of these areas during attentional processing and working memory, as well as to resolve decision-making conflict. Furthermore, cortico-pulvinar projections that engage the thalamic reticular nucleus enable the pulvinar to estimate decision-making confidence. Finally, feedforward and feedback pulvino-cortical pathways participate in frequency-dependent inter-areal interactions that modify the relative hierarchical positions of cortical areas. Overall, our model suggests that the pulvinar provides crucial contextual modulation to cortical computations associated with cognition.

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Afferent Connections to the Rostrolateral Part of the Periaqueductal Gray: A Critical Region Influencing the Motivation Drive to Hunt and Forage

Neural Plasticity ◽

10.1155/2009/612698 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 2009 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Sandra Regina Mota-Ortiz ◽

Marcia Harumi Sukikara ◽

Luciano Freitas Felicio ◽

Newton Sabino Canteras

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Behavioral Responses ◽

Periaqueductal Gray ◽

Decision Making Process ◽

Adaptive Responses ◽

Systematic Analysis ◽

Cortical Areas ◽

Afferent Connections ◽

Prefrontal Cortical ◽

Decision Making Processes

Previous studies have shown that a particular site in the periaqueductal gray (PAG), the rostrolateral PAG, influences the motivation drive to forage or hunt. To have a deeper understanding on the putative paths involved in the decision-making process between foraging, hunting, and other behavioral responses, in the present investigation, we carried out a systematic analysis of the neural inputs to the rostrolateral PAG (rlPAG), using Fluorogold as a retrograde tracer. According to the present findings, the rlPAG appears to be importantly driven by medial prefrontal cortical areas involved in controlling attention-related and decision-making processes. Moreover, the rlPAG also receives a wealth of information from different amygdalar, hypothalamic, and brainstem sites related to feeding, drinking, or hunting behavioral responses. Therefore, this unique combination of afferent connections puts the rlPAG in a privileged position to influence the motivation drive to choose whether hunting and foraging would be the most appropriate adaptive responses.

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