title: Between the primate and 'reptilian' brain: Rodent models demonstrate the role of corticostriatal circuits in decision making.
abstract: Decision making can be defined as the flexible integration and transformation of information from the external world into action. Recently, the development of novel genetic tools and new behavioral paradigms has made it attractive to study behavior of all kinds in rodents. By some perspectives, rodents are not an acceptable model for the study of decision making due to their simpler behavior often attributed to their less extensive cortical development when compared to non-human primates. We argue that decision making can be approached with a common framework across species. We review insights from comparative anatomy that suggest the expansion of cortical-striatal connectivity is a key development in evolutionary increases in behavioral flexibility. We briefly review studies that establish a role for corticostriatal circuits in integrative decision making. Finally, we provide an overview of a few recent, highly complementary rodent decision making studies using genetic tools, revealing with new cellular and temporal resolution how, when and where information can be integrated and compared in striatal circuits to influence choice.
authors.affiliation: Medical Scientist Training Program, University of California, San Francisco.
authors.forename: A Moses
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Lung-Hao
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zador
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wilbrecht
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice / Q000502:physiology*; D023421:Models, Animal; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D011323:Primates / Q000502:physiology*; D013045:Species Specificity
keywords: action selection; corticostriatal circuit; decision making; optogenetics; rodents; striatum