A spiking neural integrator model of the adaptive control of action by the medial prefrontal cortex.
Subjects performing simple reaction-time tasks can improve reaction times by learning the expected timing of action-imperative stimuli and preparing movements in advance. Success or failure on the previous trial is often an important factor for determining whether a subject will attempt to time the stimulus or wait for it to occur before initiating action. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in enabling the top-down control of action depending on the outcome of the previous trial. Analysis of spike activity from the rat mPFC suggests that neural integration is a key mechanism for adaptive control in precisely timed tasks. We show through simulation that a spiking neural network consisting of coupled neural integrators captures the neural dynamics of the experimentally recorded mPFC. Errors lead to deviations in the normal dynamics of the system, a process that could enable learning from past mistakes. We expand on this coupled integrator network to construct a spiking neural network that performs a reaction-time task by following either a cue-response or timing strategy, and show that it performs the task with similar reaction times as experimental subjects while maintaining the same spiking dynamics as the experimentally recorded mPFC.
Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada, and The John B. Pierce Laboratory and Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06519.
Trevor
T
Bekolay
Mark
M
Laubach
Chris
C
Eliasmith
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012201:Reward
adaptive control; delayed response RT task; mPFC; neural dynamics; neural engineering framework; neural integrator