scholarly journals Movement vigor as a traitlike attribute of individuality

2018 ◽  
Vol 120 (2) ◽  
pp. 741-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Reppert ◽  
Ioannis Rigas ◽  
David J. Herzfeld ◽  
Ehsan Sedaghat-Nejad ◽  
Oleg Komogortsev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Motor Control ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Peak Velocity ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Body Part ◽  
Willingness To Accept ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Healthy Humans ◽  
Speed Accuracy

A common aspect of individuality is our subjective preferences in evaluation of reward and effort. The neural circuits that evaluate these commodities influence circuits that control our movements, raising the possibility that vigor differences between individuals may also be a trait of individuality, reflecting a willingness to expend effort. In contrast, classic theories in motor control suggest that vigor differences reflect a speed-accuracy trade-off, predicting that those who move fast are sacrificing accuracy for speed. Here we tested these contrasting hypotheses. We measured motion of the eyes, head, and arm in healthy humans during various elementary movements (saccades, head-free gaze shifts, and reaching). For each person we characterized their vigor, i.e., the speed with which they moved a body part (peak velocity) with respect to the population mean. Some moved with low vigor, while others moved with high vigor. Those with high vigor tended to react sooner to a visual stimulus, moving both their eyes and arm with a shorter reaction time. Arm and head vigor were tightly linked: individuals who moved their head with high vigor also moved their arm with high vigor. However, eye vigor did not correspond strongly with arm or head vigor. In all modalities, vigor had no impact on end-point accuracy, demonstrating that differences in vigor were not due to a speed-accuracy trade-off. Our results suggest that movement vigor may be a trait of individuality, not reflecting a willingness to accept inaccuracy but demonstrating a propensity to expend effort. NEW & NOTEWORTHY A common aspect of individuality is how we evaluate economic variables like reward and effort. This valuation affects not only decision making but also motor control, raising the possibility that vigor may be distinct between individuals but conserved across movements within an individual. Here we report conservation of vigor across elementary skeletal movements, but not eye movements, raising the possibility that the individuality of our movements may be driven by a common neural mechanism of effort evaluation across modalities of skeletal motor control.

Inspection of Sheet Materials—Test of Model Predictions

1978 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 521-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Spitz ◽  
Colin G. Drury
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Stage Model ◽  
High Contrast ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Low Contrast ◽  
Model Predictions ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
Inspection Task ◽  
Inspection Performance

The two-stage model of inspection performance suggested in a previous paper was tested in laboratory conditions. Four subjects participated in an experiment to estimate the visual search and decision making components of an inspection task using light circular targets of low contrast on a dark empty field. Predicted and measured performance on the inspection task were compared. It was found that the prediction of independence of component tasks and additivity was upheld. In predicting speed/accuracy trade-off, the model's performance was better for the high contrast conditions than for the more difficult low contrast conditions.

Movement dynamics in speed/accuracy trade-off

1997 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Morasso ◽  
V. Sanguineti
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Internal Source ◽  
Dynamic Nature ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Fitts Law ◽  
Movement Dynamics ◽  
Weak Theories ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
Partial Compensation

Fitts' law and the ΔΛ model are “weak” theories of motor control because they are limited to the kinematic aspects of movement and do not capture its essential dynamic nature. The internal source of “noise” that determines the speed/ accuracy trade-off can be associated with the partial compensation of movement-generated “parasitic” forces.

scholarly journals Beyond decision! Motor contribution to speed–accuracy trade-off in decision-making

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 950-956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laure Spieser ◽  
Mathieu Servant ◽  
Thierry Hasbroucq ◽  
Borís Burle
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Speed Accuracy

scholarly journals Choice ball: a response interface for two-choice psychometric discrimination in head-fixed mice

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (12) ◽  
pp. 3416-3423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua I. Sanders ◽  
Adam Kepecs
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Motor Control ◽  
Sensory Processing ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Model System ◽  
Response Device ◽  
Low Contrast ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
And Control ◽  
Level Analysis

The mouse is an important model system for investigating the neural circuits mediating behavior. Because of advances in imaging and optogenetic methods, head-fixed mouse preparations provide an unparalleled opportunity to observe and control neural circuits. To investigate how neural circuits produce behavior, these methods need to be paired with equally well-controlled and monitored behavioral paradigms. Here, we introduce the choice ball, a response device that enables two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) tasks in head-fixed mice based on the readout of lateral paw movements. We demonstrate the advantages of the choice ball by training mice in the random-click task, a two-choice auditory discrimination behavior. For each trial, mice listened to binaural streams of Poisson-distributed clicks and were required to roll the choice ball laterally toward the side with the greater click rate. In this assay, mice performed hundreds of trials per session with accuracy ranging from 95% for easy stimuli (large interaural click-rate contrast) to near chance level for low-contrast stimuli. We also show, using the record of individual paw strokes, that mice often reverse decisions they have already initiated and that decision reversals correlate with improved performance. The choice ball enables head-fixed 2AFC paradigms, facilitating the circuit-level analysis of sensory processing, decision making, and motor control in mice.

scholarly journals A Dynamic Approach to Recognition Memory

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Edward Cox ◽  
Rich Shiffrin
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Recognition Memory ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Source Memory ◽  
Dynamic Approach ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
The Core ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
Over Time

We present a dynamic model of memory that integrates the processes of perception, retrieval from knowledge, retrieval of events, and decision making as these evolve from one moment to the next. The core of the model is that recognition depends on tracking changes in familiarity over time from an initial baseline generally determined by context, with these changes depending on the availability of different kinds of information at different times. A mathematical implementation of this model leads to precise, accurate predictions of accuracy, response time, and speed-accuracy trade-off in episodic recognition at the levels of both groups and individuals across a variety of paradigms. Our approach leads to novel insights regarding word frequency, speeded responding, context reinstatement, short-term priming, similarity, source memory, and associative recognition, revealing how the same set of core dynamic principles can help unify otherwise disparate phenomena in the study of memory.

scholarly journals Tuning the speed-accuracy trade-off to maximize reward rate in multisensory decision-making

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Drugowitsch ◽  
Gregory C DeAngelis ◽  
Dora E Angelaki ◽  
Alexandre Pouget
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Neural Population ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Reward Rate ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Sensory Modalities ◽  
Effective Decision Making ◽  
Speed Accuracy

For decisions made under time pressure, effective decision making based on uncertain or ambiguous evidence requires efficient accumulation of evidence over time, as well as appropriately balancing speed and accuracy, known as the speed/accuracy trade-off. For simple unimodal stimuli, previous studies have shown that human subjects set their speed/accuracy trade-off to maximize reward rate. We extend this analysis to situations in which information is provided by multiple sensory modalities. Analyzing previously collected data (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="bib4">Drugowitsch et al., 2014</xref>), we show that human subjects adjust their speed/accuracy trade-off to produce near-optimal reward rates. This trade-off can change rapidly across trials according to the sensory modalities involved, suggesting that it is represented by neural population codes rather than implemented by slow neuronal mechanisms such as gradual changes in synaptic weights. Furthermore, we show that deviations from the optimal speed/accuracy trade-off can be explained by assuming an incomplete gradient-based learning of these trade-offs.

scholarly journals Visual evidence accumulation guides decision-making in unrestrained mice

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onyekachi Odoemene ◽  
Sashank Pisupati ◽  
Hien Nguyen ◽  
Anne K. Churchland
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Neural Structure ◽  
Evidence Accumulation ◽  
Visual Evidence ◽  
Decision Making Behavior

AbstractThe ability to manipulate neural activity with precision is an asset in uncovering neural circuits for decision-making. Diverse tools for manipulating neurons are available for mice, but the feasibility of mice for decision-making studies remains unclear, especially when decisions require accumulating visual evidence. For example, whether mice’ decisions reflect leaky accumulation is not established, and the relevant and irrelevant factors that influence decisions are unknown. Further, causal circuits for visual evidence accumulation have not been established. To address these issues, we measured >500,000 decisions in 27 mice trained to judge the fluctuating rate of a sequence of flashes. Information throughout the 1000ms trial influenced choice, but early information was most influential. This suggests that information persists in neural circuits for ~1000ms with minimal accumulation leak. Further, while animals primarily based decisions on current stimulus rate, they were unable to entirely suppress additional factors: total stimulus brightness and the previous trial’s outcome. Next, we optogenetically inhibited anteromedial (AM) visual area using JAWS. Importantly, light activation biased choices in both injected and uninjected animals, demonstrating that light alone influences behavior. By varying stimulus-response contingency while holding stimulated hemisphere constant, we surmounted this obstacle to demonstrate that AM suppression biases decisions. By leveraging a large dataset to quantitatively characterize decision-making behavior, we establish mice as suitable for neural circuit manipulation studies, including the one here. Further, by demonstrating that mice accumulate visual evidence, we demonstrate that this strategy for reducing uncertainty in decision-making is employed by animals with diverse visual systems.Significance statementTo connect behaviors to their underlying neural mechanism, a deep understanding of the behavioral strategy is needed. This understanding is incomplete in mouse studies, in part because existing datasets have been too small to quantitatively characterize decision-making behavior. To surmount this, we measured the outcome of over 500,000 decisions made by 27 mice trained to judge visual stimuli. Our analyses offer new insights into mice’ decision-making strategies and compares them with those of other species. We then disrupted neural activity in a candidate neural structure and examined the effect on decisions. Our findings establish mice as a suitable organism for visual accumulation of evidence decisions. Further, the results highlight similarities in decision-making strategies across very different species.

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