Decision-making dynamics are predicted by arousal and uninstructed movements.

ABSTRACT: During sensory-guided behavior, an animal's decision-making dynamics unfold through sequences of distinct performance states, even while stimulus-reward contingencies remain static. Little is known about the factors that underlie these changes in task performance. We hypothesize that these decision-making dynamics can be predicted by externally observable measures, such as uninstructed movements and changes in arousal. Here, combining behavioral experiments in mice with computational modeling, we uncovered lawful relationships between transitions in strategic task performance states and an animal's arousal and uninstructed movements. Using hidden Markov models applied to behavioral choices during sensory discrimination tasks, we found that animals fluctuate between minutes-long optimal, su

SUBMITTER: Hulsey D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10081205 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature