Midbrain Dopamine Neurons Signal Belief in Choice Accuracy during a Perceptual Decision.

ABSTRACT: Central to the organization of behavior is the ability to predict the values of outcomes to guide choices. The accuracy of such predictions is honed by a teaching signal that indicates how incorrect a prediction was ("reward prediction error," RPE). In several reinforcement learning contexts, such as Pavlovian conditioning and decisions guided by reward history, this RPE signal is provided by midbrain dopamine neurons. In many situations, however, the stimuli predictive of outcomes are perceptually ambiguous. Perceptual uncertainty is known to influence choices, but it has been unclear whether or how dopamine neurons factor it into their teaching signal. To cope with uncertainty, we extended a reinforcement learning model with a belief state about the perceptually ambiguous stimulus; this

SUBMITTER: Lak A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5819757 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature