A novel approach to studying the neurobiology of decision-making: modeling cognitive effort in rats

研究决策神经生物学的新方法：模拟大鼠的认知努力

• 批准号: 341483-2012
• 负责人: Winstanley, Catharine
• 金额: $ 3.42万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=572269
• 关键词: novel; approach; studying; neurobiology; decision

Understanding the mechanism by which we come to prefer a particular option, and how different factors can influence that decision, is one of the overarching goals of both cognitive and behavioural neuroscience. Laboratory-based paradigms in which a particular factor within a decision frame (delay/ probability/ effort) is systematically varied have provided us with a wealth of information regarding the potential neural, and to some extent, neurochemical systems implicated in different forms of decision-making. By translating these tasks into non-human animal models, it is possible to test the causative relationships suggested by human data, and delineate further the pharmacological and molecular regulation of the choice process. Given that most decisions in this world require allocation of cognitive effort, our proposal addresses the question of whether rats are sensitive to the dimension of mental strain when making decisions, and what neurobiological processes may be involved in the execution of such judgements. To this end, we have developed a novel paradigm- the rat cognitive effort task (R-CET)- in which rats choose whether to perform an attentional demanding task, in which they have to detect the spatial location of a very brief light stimulus, or an easier task, in which the stimulus is illuminated for longer and is therefore easier to localise. Correct performance of a more difficult option leads to a greater amount of reward. Interestingly, there are marked individual differences in the degree to which animals select the harder trials, leading to the classification of animals as either "workers" or "slackers". This classification is independent of animals' ability to perform the hard or easy trials i.e. both workers and slackers are just as accurate at detecting the visual target, regardless of the stimulus duration. Hence, it would appear that we can separate willingness to exert cognitive effort from the ability to perform a more effortful task. The experiments outlined in this proposal aim to build on our initial characterisation of this novel decision-making task, and determine the brain areas, chemicals and molecular signalling pathways involved.

了解我们更喜欢特定选择的机制，以及不同的因素如何影响该决定，是认知和行为神经科学的总体目标之一。 基于实验室的范例，其中在决策框架内的特定因素（延迟/概率/努力）是系统上不同的，这为我们提供了有关潜在神经的大量信息，并且在某种程度上，神经化学系统涉及不同形式的决策。 通过将这些任务转化为非人类动物模型，可以测试人类数据所建议的病因关系，并进一步描述选择过程的药理和分子调节。 鉴于这个世界上的大多数决定都需要分配认知努力，因此我们的提议解决了一个问题，即在做出决策时大鼠是否对精神压力的维度敏感，以及在执行此类判断中可能涉及哪些神经生物学过程。 为此，我们开发了一种新颖的范式 - 大鼠认知努力任务（R-CET） - 在其中，大鼠选择是否执行注意力苛刻的任务，其中他们必须检测到非常短暂的轻刺激的空间位置，或者更轻松的任务，其中刺激被阐明以进行长时间的刺激，因此可以更轻松地定位。 更难选择的正确性能会带来更多的奖励。 有趣的是，动物选择更艰苦的试验的程度有明显的个体差异，导致动物将动物分类为“工人”或“懒惰者”。 这种分类独立于动物执行硬试验或易于试验的能力，即工人和懒惰者在检测视觉目标方面同样准确，无论刺激持续时间如何。 因此，似乎我们可以将认知努力的意愿与执行更加精通的任务的能力分开。 该提案中概述的实验旨在建立我们对这项新决策任务的最初表征，并确定所涉及的大脑区域，化学物质和分子信号通路。