title: Parietal neurons encode expected gains in instrumental information.
abstract: In natural behavior, animals have access to multiple sources of information, but only a few of these sources are relevant for learning and actions. Beyond choosing an appropriate action, making good decisions entails the ability to choose the relevant information, but fundamental questions remain about the brain's information sampling policies. Recent studies described the neural correlates of seeking information about a reward, but it remains unknown whether, and how, neurons encode choices of instrumental information, in contexts in which the information guides subsequent actions. Here we show that parietal cortical neurons involved in oculomotor decisions encode, before an information sampling saccade, the reduction in uncertainty that the saccade is expected to bring for a subsequent action. These responses were distinct from the neurons' visual and saccadic modulations and from signals of expected reward or reward prediction errors. Therefore, even in an instrumental context when information and reward gains are closely correlated, individual cells encode decision variables that are based on informational factors and can guide the active sampling of action-relevant cues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032.
authors.forename: Nicholas C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Foley
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032.
authors.forename: Simon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032.
authors.forename: Himanshu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mhatre
authors.affiliation: INRIA, 33405 Talence, France.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6238-8974
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032; jg2141@columbia.edu.|The Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032.|The Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gottlieb
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012201:Reward
keywords: attention; decisions; information sampling; reward; saccades