Human substantia nigra neurons encode decision outcome and are modulated by categorization uncertainty in an auditory categorization task.

ABSTRACT: The ability to categorize stimuli - predator or prey, friend or foe - is an essential feature of the decision-making process. Underlying that ability is the development of an internally generated category boundary to generate decision outcomes. While classic temporal difference reinforcement models assume midbrain dopaminergic neurons underlie the prediction error required to learn boundary location, these neurons also demonstrate a robust response to nonreward incentive stimuli. More recent models suggest that this may reflect a motivational aspect to performing a task which should be accounted for when modeling dopaminergic neuronal behavior. To clarify the role of substantia nigra dopamine neurons in uncertain perceptual decision making, we investigated their behavior using single neuro

SUBMITTER: McGovern RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4600370 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature