scholarly journals Choice history effects in mice and humans improve reward harvesting efficiency

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. e1009452
Author(s):  
Junior Samuel López-Yépez ◽  
Juliane Martin ◽  
Oliver Hulme ◽  
Duda Kvitsiani

Choice history effects describe how future choices depend on the history of past choices. In experimental tasks this is typically framed as a bias because it often diminishes the experienced reward rates. However, in natural habitats, choices made in the past constrain choices that can be made in the future. For foraging animals, the probability of earning a reward in a given patch depends on the degree to which the animals have exploited the patch in the past. One problem with many experimental tasks that show choice history effects is that such tasks artificially decouple choice history from its consequences on reward availability over time. To circumvent this, we use a variable interval (VI) reward schedule that reinstates a more natural contingency between past choices and future reward availability. By examining the behavior of optimal agents in the VI task we discover that choice history effects observed in animals serve to maximize reward harvesting efficiency. We further distil the function of choice history effects by manipulating first- and second-order statistics of the environment. We find that choice history effects primarily reflect the growth rate of the reward probability of the unchosen option, whereas reward history effects primarily reflect environmental volatility. Based on observed choice history effects in animals, we develop a reinforcement learning model that explicitly incorporates choice history over multiple time scales into the decision process, and we assess its predictive adequacy in accounting for the associated behavior. We show that this new variant, known as the double trace model, has a higher performance in predicting choice data, and shows near optimal reward harvesting efficiency in simulated environments. These results suggests that choice history effects may be adaptive for natural contingencies between consumption and reward availability. This concept lends credence to a normative account of choice history effects that extends beyond its description as a bias.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junior Samuel Lopez-Yepez ◽  
Juliane Martin ◽  
Oliver Hulme ◽  
Duda Kvitsiani

AbstractChoice history effects describe how future choices depend on the history of past choices. Choice history effects are typically framed as a bias rather than an adaptive phenomenon because the phenomenon generally degrades reward rates in experimental tasks. How-ever, in natural habitats, choices made in the past constrain choices that can be made in the future. For foraging animals, the probability of obtaining a reward in a given patch depends on the degree to which the animals have exploited the patch in the past. One problem with many experimental tasks that show choice history effects is that such tasks artificially decouple choice history from its consequences in regard to reward availability over time. To circumvent this, we used a variable interval (VI) reward schedule that reinstates a more natural contingency between past choices and future reward availability. By manipulating first- and second-order statistics of the environment, we dissociated choice history, reward history, and reaction times. We found that choice history effects reflect the growth rate of the reward probability of the unchosen option, reward history effects reflect environmental volatility, and reaction time reflects overall reward rate. By testing in mice and humans, we show that the same choice history effects can be generalized across species and that these effects are similar to those observed in optimal agents. Furthermore, we develop a new reinforcement learning model that explicitly incorporates choice history over multiple timescales into the decision process, and we examine its predictive adequacy in accounting for the associated behavioral data. We show that this new variant, known as the double trace model, has a higher predictive adequacy of choice data, in addition to better reward harvesting efficiency in simulated environments. Finally, we show that the choice history effects emerge in optimal models of foraging in habitats with diminishing returns, thus linking this phenomenon to a wider class of optimality models in behavioral ecology. These results suggests that choice history effects may be adaptive for natural contingencies between consumption and reward availability. This concept lends credence to a normative account of choice history effects that extends beyond its description as a bias.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Leibold

AbstractHippocampal place cell populations are activated in sequences on multiple time scales during active behavior, resting and sleep states, suggesting that these sequences are the genuine dynamical motifs of the hippocampal circuit. Recently, prewired hippocampal place cell sequences have even been reported to correlate to future behaviors, but so far there is no explanation of what could be the computational benefits of such a mapping between intrinsic dynamical structure and external sensory inputs. Here, I propose a computational model in which a set of predefined internal sequences is used as a dynamical reservoir to construct a spatial map of a large unknown maze based on only a small number of salient landmarks. The model is based on a new variant of temporal difference learning and implements a simultaneous localization and mapping algorithm. As a result sequences during intermittent replay periods can be decoded as spatial trajectories and improve navigation performance, which supports the functional interpretation of replay to consolidate memories of motor actions.


Author(s):  
L. Gudmundsson ◽  
S. I. Seneviratne

Abstract. Recent climate projections suggest pronounced changes in European drought frequency. In the north, increased precipitation volumes are likely to reduce drought occurrence, whereas more frequent droughts are expected for southern Europe. To assess whether this pattern of changes in drought frequency can already be identified for the past decades, we analyse trends in a recently developed pan-European drought climatology that is based on the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The index is derived on multiple time scales, ranging from 1 to 36 months, which allows the assessment of trends in both short term and multi-year droughts. Trends are quantified using the Theil-Sen trend estimator combined with an extension of the Mann–Kendal test (p < 0.05) that accounts for serial correlation. Field significance is assessed on the basis of techniques that control the false discovery rate in a multiple testing setting. The trend analysis indicates that changes in drought frequency are more pronounced on time scales of one year and longer. The analysis also reveals that there has been a tendency for decreased drought frequency in northern Europe in the past decades, whereas droughts have likely become more frequent in selected southern regions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 86 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Yin ◽  
Yun Su ◽  
Xiuqi Fang

AbstractThe relation between climate change and historical rhythms has long been discussed. However, this type of study still faces the lack of high-resolution data concerning long-term socio-economic processes. In this study, we collected 1586 items of direct and proffered evidence from 29 Chinese history books. We used semantic analysis to reconstruct a quantitative series of the social vicissitudes of the past 2000 yr with a 10-yr resolution to express the phase transition of the social vicissitudes of the dynasties in China. Our reconstruction demonstrates that social vicissitudes have clear cyclical features on multiple time scales. Analysis of the association of social rise and fall with climate change indicates that temperature displayed more significant effects on social vicissitudes in the long term, while precipitation displayed more significant effects on the social vicissitudes in the short term. There are great overlaps between social and climatic variables around the predominant or periodic bands. Social rise mostly occurred in the centennial-scale warm periods, whereas social decline mostly occurred in the centennial-scale cold periods. Under warm-wet conditions, social rise occurred over 57% of the time; under cold-dry conditions, the social decline occurred over 66% of the time.


1973 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-188
Author(s):  
Rafiq Ahmad

Like nations and civilizations, sciences also pass through period of crises when established theories are overthrown by the unpredictable behaviour of events. Economics is passing through such a crisis. The challenge thrown by the Great Depression of early 1930s took a decade before Keynes re-established the supremacy of economics. But this supremacy has again been upset by the crisis of poverty in the vast under-developed world which attained political independence after the Second World War. Poverty had always existed but never before had it been of such concern to economists as during the past twenty five years or so. Economic literature dealing with this problem has piled up but so have the agonies of poverty. No plausible and well-integrated theory of economic development or under-development has emerged so far, though brilliant advances have been made in isolated directions.


Author(s):  
Rocco J. Rotello ◽  
Timothy D. Veenstra

: In the current omics-age of research, major developments have been made in technologies that attempt to survey the entire repertoire of genes, transcripts, proteins, and metabolites present within a cell. While genomics has led to a dramatic increase in our understanding of such things as disease morphology and how organisms respond to medications, it is critical to obtain information at the proteome level since proteins carry out most of the functions within the cell. The primary tool for obtaining proteome-wide information on proteins within the cell is mass spectrometry (MS). While it has historically been associated with the protein identification, developments over the past couple of decades have made MS a robust technology for protein quantitation as well. Identifying quantitative changes in proteomes is complicated by its dynamic nature and the inability of any technique to guarantee complete coverage of every protein within a proteome sample. Fortunately, the combined development of sample preparation and MS methods have made it capable to quantitatively compare many thousands of proteins obtained from cells and organisms.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan Liang ◽  
◽  
Daniele J. Cherniak ◽  
Chenguang Sun

Author(s):  
John Hunsley ◽  
Eric J. Mash

Evidence-based assessment relies on research and theory to inform the selection of constructs to be assessed for a specific assessment purpose, the methods and measures to be used in the assessment, and the manner in which the assessment process unfolds. An evidence-based approach to clinical assessment necessitates the recognition that, even when evidence-based instruments are used, the assessment process is a decision-making task in which hypotheses must be iteratively formulated and tested. In this chapter, we review (a) the progress that has been made in developing an evidence-based approach to clinical assessment in the past decade and (b) the many challenges that lie ahead if clinical assessment is to be truly evidence-based.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088506662199232
Author(s):  
Xiaojuan Zhang ◽  
Xin Li

Septic shock with multiple organ failure is a devastating situation in clinical settings. Through the past decades, much progress has been made in the management of sepsis and its underlying pathogenesis, but a highly effective therapeutic has not been developed. Recently, macromolecules such as histones have been targeted in the treatment of sepsis. Histones primarily function as chromosomal organizers to pack DNA and regulate its transcription through epigenetic mechanisms. However, a growing body of research has shown that histone family members can also exert cellular toxicity once they relocate from the nucleus into the extracellular space. Heparin, a commonly used anti-coagulant, has been shown to possess life-saving capabilities for septic patients, but the potential interplay between heparin and extracellular histones has not been investigated. In this review, we summarize the pathogenic roles of extracellular histones and the therapeutic roles of heparin in the development and management of sepsis and septic shock.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document