Vacillation, indecision and hesitation in moment-by-moment decoding of monkey motor cortex
When choosing actions, we can act decisively, vacillate, or suffer momentary indecision. Studying how individual decisions unfold requires moment-by-moment readouts of brain state. Here we provide such a view from dorsal premotor and primary motor cortex. Two monkeys performed a novel decision task...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2015-05-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/04677 |
| _version_ | 1811201023615696896 |
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| author | Matthew T Kaufman Mark M Churchland Stephen I Ryu Krishna V Shenoy |
| author_facet | Matthew T Kaufman Mark M Churchland Stephen I Ryu Krishna V Shenoy |
| author_sort | Matthew T Kaufman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | When choosing actions, we can act decisively, vacillate, or suffer momentary indecision. Studying how individual decisions unfold requires moment-by-moment readouts of brain state. Here we provide such a view from dorsal premotor and primary motor cortex. Two monkeys performed a novel decision task while we recorded from many neurons simultaneously. We found that a decoder trained using ‘forced choices’ (one target viable) was highly reliable when applied to ‘free choices’. However, during free choices internal events formed three categories. Typically, neural activity was consistent with rapid, unwavering choices. Sometimes, though, we observed presumed ‘changes of mind’: the neural state initially reflected one choice before changing to reflect the final choice. Finally, we observed momentary ‘indecision’: delay forming any clear motor plan. Further, moments of neural indecision accompanied moments of behavioral indecision. Together, these results reveal the rich and diverse set of internal events long suspected to occur during free choice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:14:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8b721529deb946548c52142158d05f46 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:14:40Z |
| publishDate | 2015-05-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-8b721529deb946548c52142158d05f462022-12-22T03:52:18ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2015-05-01410.7554/eLife.04677Vacillation, indecision and hesitation in moment-by-moment decoding of monkey motor cortexMatthew T Kaufman0Mark M Churchland1Stephen I Ryu2Krishna V Shenoy3Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, United StatesDepartment of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, United States; Grossman Center for the Statistics of Mind, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, United States; David Mahoney Center for Brain and Behavior Research, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, United States; Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, United StatesDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Department of Neurosurgery, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto, United StatesDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Neurosciences Program, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, United States; Department of Neurobiology, Stanford University, Stanford, United StatesWhen choosing actions, we can act decisively, vacillate, or suffer momentary indecision. Studying how individual decisions unfold requires moment-by-moment readouts of brain state. Here we provide such a view from dorsal premotor and primary motor cortex. Two monkeys performed a novel decision task while we recorded from many neurons simultaneously. We found that a decoder trained using ‘forced choices’ (one target viable) was highly reliable when applied to ‘free choices’. However, during free choices internal events formed three categories. Typically, neural activity was consistent with rapid, unwavering choices. Sometimes, though, we observed presumed ‘changes of mind’: the neural state initially reflected one choice before changing to reflect the final choice. Finally, we observed momentary ‘indecision’: delay forming any clear motor plan. Further, moments of neural indecision accompanied moments of behavioral indecision. Together, these results reveal the rich and diverse set of internal events long suspected to occur during free choice.https://elifesciences.org/articles/04677monkeymotordecision makingdecoderfree choicevacillation |
| spellingShingle | Matthew T Kaufman Mark M Churchland Stephen I Ryu Krishna V Shenoy Vacillation, indecision and hesitation in moment-by-moment decoding of monkey motor cortex eLife monkey motor decision making decoder free choice vacillation |
| title | Vacillation, indecision and hesitation in moment-by-moment decoding of monkey motor cortex |
| title_full | Vacillation, indecision and hesitation in moment-by-moment decoding of monkey motor cortex |
| title_fullStr | Vacillation, indecision and hesitation in moment-by-moment decoding of monkey motor cortex |
| title_full_unstemmed | Vacillation, indecision and hesitation in moment-by-moment decoding of monkey motor cortex |
| title_short | Vacillation, indecision and hesitation in moment-by-moment decoding of monkey motor cortex |
| title_sort | vacillation indecision and hesitation in moment by moment decoding of monkey motor cortex |
| topic | monkey motor decision making decoder free choice vacillation |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/04677 |
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