Neural mechanisms of probability estimation during decision-making

决策过程中概率估计的神经机制

基本信息

批准号：
9894590
负责人：
Christine Marie Constantinople
金额：
$ 2.06万
依托单位：
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2019-09-05 至 2021-11-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9894590
关键词：
Address African American Amaze Amygdaloid structure Attitude Authorship Award Behavior Behavioral Behavioral Paradigm Biological Models Biology Bipolar Disorder Brain region Chicago Cognitive Collaborations Data Analyses Decision Making Discipline Doctor of Philosophy Ecology Economics Electrophysiology (science)Evolution Exhibits Faculty Fiber Funding Gambling Grant Hand Human Impairment Individual Intelligence Left Medial Medial Dorsal Nucleus Mental Health Mental disorders Methods Monitor Motivation NCI Scholars Program Neurons Neurosciences Outcome Overweight Phase Photometry Population Prefrontal Cortex Probability Process Psychology Publications Rattus Recording of previous events Research Research Project Grants Resolution Rewards Risk Rodent Schizophrenia Schools Soccer Sports Thalamic structure Time Training Transcript Underrepresented Minority Underweight Universities Update Wild Animals Woman Work base behavioral economics college experience experimental study graduate student improved interest neural circuit neuromechanism nonhuman primate novel optogenetics parent grant preference programs relating to nervous system skills student mentoring success theories tool undergraduate student

项目摘要

Behavioral economics has described many ways in which choice deviates from normative (i.e., optimal) behavior. For example, a pervasive feature of human decision-making is probability distortion: humans tend to overweight small probabilities and underweight large probabilities. When individuals decide to purchase insurance or play the lottery, these decisions are influenced by how likely they perceive low probability outcomes to be. Another ubiquitous decision bias is called the “Hot-Hand Fallacy” in which people mistakenly perceive random successes as winning streaks, believing that they have a hot hand. These near universal phenomena may reflect fundamental aspects of the neural substrates of decision-making. Decision-making is disrupted in psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A circuit-level understanding of how the brain represents probabilities during decision-making has great consequences for human health. I have recently used high-throughput behavioral training to develop behavioral paradigms for studying probability distortion in rats, enabling application of powerful tools to monitor and manipulate neural circuits. In this task, rats chose between probabilistic and guaranteed rewards. I have performed tetrode recordings from two brain regions during this behavior, posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and orbitofrontal cortex. I performed optogenetic perturbations of these regions, and while these did not perturb rats' probability distortion, they produced an intriguing effect. Rats exhibited a Hot-Hand Bias, in which they were more likely to gamble following risky choices that were rewarded. Optogenetic inhibition of OFC eliminated the hot-hand bias in 13 rats; inhibition of PPC had no effect on the hot-hand bias. Therefore, thus far, we have identified a brain region, the OFC, as causal to a ubiquitous decision bias that demonstrably affects human behavior in finance, gambling, and professional sports. I am in the process of preparing and submitting two manuscripts about this work so far. I have been trained in all of the techniques required to complete the R00 phase of the award. In the R00 phase, I will perform optogenetic and pharmacological perturbation experiments to delineate the functional causal circuits underlying probability distortion. I will also use projection-specific optogenetic and recording methods to explore whether specific subcircuits of neurons in OFC are preferentially responsible for mediating the hot-hand bias. Together, these experiments will establish the rat as a cost-effective, tractable mammalian model for studying the neural basis of decision biases and will produce well-informed working models of the circuits and mechanisms by which animals compute, represent, and distort probability estimates. I have secured a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor in the Center for Neural Science at New York University. In the R00 phase, I will use the skills I have acquired during the K99 phase to complete the proposed aims and build a laboratory focused on the study of probability distortion and decision-making using innovative behavioral, electrophysiological, computational, and optogenetic approaches.

行为经济学描述了选择偏离规范（即最优）行为的许多方式，例如，人类决策的一个普遍特征是概率扭曲：当个人决定购买时，人们倾向于高估小概率而低估大概率。保险或玩彩票时，这些决策会受到他们认为低概率结果的可能性的影响。另一种普遍存在的决策偏差被称为“热手谬误”，即人们错误地将随机成功视为获胜。这些近乎普遍的现象可能反映了精神分裂症和双相情感障碍等精神疾病的决策神经基础受到干扰。代表决策过程中的概率对人类健康具有重大影响。我最近使用高通量行为训练来开发研究大鼠概率失真的行为范式，从而能够在这项任务中应用强大的工具来监测和操纵大鼠的神经回路。选择之间在这种行为过程中，我对两个大脑区域进行了四极管记录，即后顶叶皮层（PPC）和眶额皮层，我对这些区域进行了光遗传学扰动，虽然这些并没有扰乱老鼠的概率失真。有趣的是，老鼠表现出热手偏差，即在获得奖励的冒险选择后，它们更有可能进行赌博，从而消除了 13 只老鼠的热手偏差。因此，到目前为止，我们已经确定了大脑区域 OFC 是导致普遍存在的决策偏差的原因，而这种决策偏差明显影响了人类在金融、赌博和职业体育领域的行为。到目前为止，我正在准备和提交有关这项工作的两篇手稿，我已经接受了完成该奖项的 R00 阶段所需的所有技术的培训。在 R00 阶段，我将进行光遗传学和药理学微扰实验。我还将使用特定于投影的光遗传学和记录方法来描绘 OFC 中神经元的特定子电路是否优先负责介导热手偏差。成本效益高、易于处理的哺乳动物模型，用于研究决策偏差的神经基础，并将产生动物计算、表示和扭曲概率估计的电路和机制的消息灵通的工作模型，我已经获得了终身教职。纽约大学神经科学中心的助理教授，在R00阶段，我将利用我在K99阶段获得的技能来完成提出的目标，并建立一个专注于概率扭曲和决策研究的实验室。使用创新的行为、电生理、计算和光遗传学方法进行制作。