Specific frontal neural dynamics contribute to decisions to check.
Curiosity and information seeking potently shapes our behaviour and are thought to rely on the frontal cortex. Yet, the frontal regions and neural dynamics that control the drive to check for information remain unknown. Here we trained monkeys in a task where they had the opportunity to gain information about the potential delivery of a large bonus reward or continue with a default instructed decision task. Single-unit recordings in behaving monkeys reveal that decisions to check for additional information first engage midcingulate cortex and then lateral prefrontal cortex. The opposite is true for instructed decisions. Importantly, deciding to check engages neurons also involved in performance monitoring. Further, specific midcingulate activity could be discerned several trials before the monkeys actually choose to check the environment. Our data show that deciding to seek information on the current state of the environment is characterized by specific dynamics of neural activity within the prefrontal cortex.
Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, 18 avenue du Doyen Lepine, 69500 Bron, France.
Frederic M
FM
Stoll
Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, 18 avenue du Doyen Lepine, 69500 Bron, France.
Vincent
V
Fontanier
Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, 18 avenue du Doyen Lepine, 69500 Bron, France.
Emmanuel
E
Procyk
D000818:Animals; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D056228:Feedback, Sensory / Q000502:physiology*; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D012201:Reward; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques