title: Mesencephalic representations of recent experience influence decision making.
abstract: Decisions are influenced by recent experience, but the neural basis for this phenomenon is not well understood. Here, we address this question in the context of action selection. We focused on activity in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPTg), a mesencephalic region that provides input to several nuclei in the action selection network, in well-trained mice selecting actions based on sensory cues and recent trial history. We found that, at the time of action selection, the activity of many PPTg neurons reflected the action on the previous trial and its outcome, and the strength of this activity predicted the upcoming choice. Further, inactivating the PPTg predictably decreased the influence of recent experience on action selection. These findings suggest that PPTg input to downstream motor regions, where it can be integrated with other relevant information, provides a simple mechanism for incorporating recent experience into the computations underlying action selection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, United States.|Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, United States.
authors.forename: John A
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2991-5194
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, United States.
authors.forename: Jamie D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Costabile
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, United States.
authors.forename: Gidon
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0745-8279
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Felsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009812:Odorants; D045042:Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D012201:Reward; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques
keywords: decision-making; mouse; neuroscience; pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus; sensorimotor