Semi-orthogonal subspaces for value mediate a tradeoff between binding and generalization.

ABSTRACT: When choosing between options, we must associate their values with the action needed to select them. We hypothesize that the brain solves this binding problem through neural population subspaces. To test this hypothesis, we examined neuronal responses in five reward-sensitive regions in macaques performing a risky choice task with sequential offers. Surprisingly, in all areas, the neural population encoded the values of offers presented on the left and right in distinct subspaces. We show that the encoding we observe is sufficient to bind the values of the offers to their respective positions in space while preserving abstract value information, which may be important for rapid learning and generalization to novel contexts. Moreover, after both offers have been presented, all areas encode

SUBMITTER: Johnston WJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10516109 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature