2025 Hyper Recent •CC0 1.0 Universal

This work is dedicated to the public domain. No rights reserved.

Access Preprint From Server
March 7th, 2025
Version: 2
University of Montreal
neuroscience
biorxiv

Humans forage for reward in reinforcement learning tasks

Zid, M.Open in Google Scholar•Laurie, V.-J.Open in Google Scholar•Ramirez-Ruiz, J.Open in Google Scholar•Lavigne-Champagne, A.Open in Google Scholar•Shourkeshti, A.Open in Google Scholar•Harrel, D.Open in Google Scholar•Herman, A.Open in Google Scholar•Ebitz, B.Open in Google Scholar

How do we make good decisions in uncertain environments? In psychology and neuroscience, the classic view is that we calculate the value of each option, compare them, and choose the most rewarding modulo exploratory noise. An ethologist, conversely, would argue that we commit to one option until its value drops below a threshold and then explore alternatives. Because the fields use incompatible methods, it remains unclear which view better describes human decision-making. Here, we found that humans use compare-to-threshold computations in classic compare-alternative tasks. Because compare-alternative computations are central to the reinforcement-learning (RL) models typically used in the cognitive and brain sciences, we developed a novel compare-to-threshold model (foraging). Compared to previous RL models, the foraging model better fit participant behavior, better predicted the tendency to repeat choices, and predicted held-out participants that were almost impossible under compare-alternatives models. These results suggest that humans use compare-to-threshold computations in sequential decision-making.

Similar Papers

biorxiv
Fri Mar 07 2025
Decoding the Cognitive map: Learning place cells and remapping
Hippocampal place cells are known for their spatially selective firing and are believed to encode an animal's location while forming part of a cognitive map of space. These cells exhibit marked tuning curve and rate changes when an animal's environment is sufficiently manipulated, in a process known as remapping. Place cells are accompanied by many other spatially tuned cells such as border cells ...
Pettersen, M. B.
•
Schoyen, V. S.
•
Malthe-Sorenssen, A.
•
Lepperod, M. E.
biorxiv
Fri Mar 07 2025
A direct neural signature of serial dependence in working memory
Serial dependence describes the phenomenon that current object representations are attracted to previously encoded and reported representations. While attractive biases have been observed reliably in behavior, a direct neural correlate has not been established. Previous studies have either shown a reactivation of past information without observing a neural signal related to the bias of the current...
Fischer, C.
•
Kaiser, J.
•
Bledowski, C.
biorxiv
Fri Mar 07 2025
Heterozygosity for neurodevelopmental disorder-associated TRIO variants yields distinct deficits in behavior, neuronal development, and synaptic transmission in mice.
Genetic variants in TRIO are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) including schizophrenia (SCZ), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability. TRIO uses its two guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) domains to activate GTPases (GEF1: Rac1 and RhoG; GEF2: RhoA) that control neuronal development and connectivity. It remains unclear how discrete TRIO variants different...
Ishchenko, Y.
•
Jeng, A. T.
•
Feng, S.
•
Nottoli, T.
...•
Koleske, A. J.
biorxiv
Fri Mar 07 2025
Computational neurodevelopment: infant decision-making in changing environments
In recognition of the fact that most psychiatric conditions have neurodevelopmental origins, there is an increasing interest in applying the methodological and conceptual approaches from computational psychiatry to developmental cohorts. However, the challenge of acquiring and modelling behavioural responses in very young infants has thus far proven difficult to overcome. To address this we develo...
Adams, R. A.
•
Billing, A.
•
Baljer, L.
•
Smith, E. S.
...•
Lawson, R. P.
biorxiv
Fri Mar 07 2025
Violated predictions enhance the representational fidelity of visual features in perception
Predictive coding theories argue that recent experience establishes expectations that generate prediction errors when violated. In humans, brain imaging studies have revealed unique signatures of violated predictions in sensory cortex, but the perceptual consequences of these effects remain unknown. We had observers perform a dual-report task on the orientation of a briefly presented target gratin...
Rideaux, R.
•
Dang, P.
•
Jackel-David, L.
•
Buhmann, Z.
...•
Mattingley, J. B.
biorxiv
Fri Mar 07 2025
Hierarchy between forelimb premotor and primary motor cortices and its manifestation in their firing patterns
Though hierarchy is commonly invoked in descriptions of motor cortical function, its presence and manifestation in firing patterns remain poorly resolved. Here we use optogenetic inactivation to demonstrate that short-latency influence between forelimb premotor and primary motor cortices is asymmetric during reaching in mice, demonstrating a partial hierarchy between the endogenous activity in eac...
Saiki-Ishikawa, A.
•
Agrios, M.
•
Savya, S.
•
Forrest, A.
...•
Miri, A.
biorxiv
Fri Mar 07 2025
Meta-Analysis Reveals That Explore-Exploit Decisions are Dissociable by Activation in the Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex and the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex
Explore-exploit research faces challenges in generalizability due to a limited theoretical basis for exploration and exploitation. Neuroimaging can help identify whether explore-exploit decisions involve an opponent processing system to address this issue. Thus, we conducted a coordinate-based meta-analysis (N=23 studies) finding activation in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula,...
Sazhin, D.
•
Dachs, A.
•
Smith, D. V.
biorxiv
Fri Mar 07 2025
Inner limiting Membrane Peel Extends In vivo Calcium Imaging of Retinal Ganglion Cell Activity Beyond the Fovea in Non-Human Primate
Purpose: Adaptive Optics Scanning Light Ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) paired with intravitreal injection of a viral vector coding for the calcium indicator GCaMP has enabled visualization of neuronal activity in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) at single cell resolution in the living eye. However, the inner limiting membrane (ILM) restricts viral transduction to the fovea in humans and non-human primates (N...
Baez, H. C.
•
LaPorta, J. M.
•
Walker, A. D.
•
Fischer, W. S.
...•
Mcgregor, J. E.
biorxiv
Fri Mar 07 2025
Rapid fluctuations in histamine associated with intake of nutritive and non-nutritive solutions
The neurotransmitter histamine is involved in control of food intake, yet its dynamics during individual feeding episodes remain unexplored. Therefore, we used the novel genetically-encoded histamine sensor, HisLightG, combined with fiber photometry to measure histamine release in two hypothalamic regions critical for the food-suppressive effects of histamine, the paraventricular nucleus of the hy...
Volcko, K. L.
•
Gresch, A.
•
Benowitz, B.
•
Taghipourbibalan, H.
...•
McCutcheon, J. E.