Relative salience signaling within a thalamo-orbitofrontal circuit governs learning rate.

ABSTRACT: Learning to predict rewards is essential for the sustained fitness of animals. Contemporary views suggest that such learning is driven by a reward prediction error (RPE)-the difference between received and predicted rewards. The magnitude of learning induced by an RPE is proportional to the product of the RPE and a learning rate. Here we demonstrate using two-photon calcium imaging and optogenetics in mice that certain functionally distinct subpopulations of ventral/medial orbitofrontal cortex (vmOFC) neurons signal learning rate control. Consistent with learning rate control, trial-by-trial fluctuations in vmOFC activity positively correlate with behavioral updating when the RPE is positive, and negatively correlates with behavioral updating when the RPE is negative. Learning rate is affe

SUBMITTER: K Namboodiri VM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8849135 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature