Reinforcement regulates timing variability in thalamus
Learning reduces variability but variability can facilitate learning. This paradoxical relationship has made it challenging to tease apart sources of variability that degrade performance from those that improve it. We tackled this question in a context-dependent timing task requiring humans and monk...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2020-12-01
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| Series: | eLife |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/55872 |
| _version_ | 1828203340423495680 |
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| author | Jing Wang Eghbal Hosseini Nicolas Meirhaeghe Adam Akkad Mehrdad Jazayeri |
| author_facet | Jing Wang Eghbal Hosseini Nicolas Meirhaeghe Adam Akkad Mehrdad Jazayeri |
| author_sort | Jing Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Learning reduces variability but variability can facilitate learning. This paradoxical relationship has made it challenging to tease apart sources of variability that degrade performance from those that improve it. We tackled this question in a context-dependent timing task requiring humans and monkeys to flexibly produce different time intervals with different effectors. We identified two opposing factors contributing to timing variability: slow memory fluctuation that degrades performance and reward-dependent exploratory behavior that improves performance. Signatures of these opposing factors were evident across populations of neurons in the dorsomedial frontal cortex (DMFC), DMFC-projecting neurons in the ventrolateral thalamus, and putative target of DMFC in the caudate. However, only in the thalamus were the performance-optimizing regulation of variability aligned to the slow performance-degrading memory fluctuations. These findings reveal how variability caused by exploratory behavior might help to mitigate other undesirable sources of variability and highlight a potential role for thalamocortical projections in this process. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T12:04:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ddfcc04a14e047b19866446d19c604ed |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T12:04:00Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | eLife |
| spelling | doaj.art-ddfcc04a14e047b19866446d19c604ed2022-12-22T03:33:46ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2020-12-01910.7554/eLife.55872Reinforcement regulates timing variability in thalamusJing Wang0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4761-6748Eghbal Hosseini1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0088-9765Nicolas Meirhaeghe2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3785-0696Adam Akkad3Mehrdad Jazayeri4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9764-6961Department of Bioengineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, United States; McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United StatesMcGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United StatesHarvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, United StatesMcGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United StatesMcGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United StatesLearning reduces variability but variability can facilitate learning. This paradoxical relationship has made it challenging to tease apart sources of variability that degrade performance from those that improve it. We tackled this question in a context-dependent timing task requiring humans and monkeys to flexibly produce different time intervals with different effectors. We identified two opposing factors contributing to timing variability: slow memory fluctuation that degrades performance and reward-dependent exploratory behavior that improves performance. Signatures of these opposing factors were evident across populations of neurons in the dorsomedial frontal cortex (DMFC), DMFC-projecting neurons in the ventrolateral thalamus, and putative target of DMFC in the caudate. However, only in the thalamus were the performance-optimizing regulation of variability aligned to the slow performance-degrading memory fluctuations. These findings reveal how variability caused by exploratory behavior might help to mitigate other undesirable sources of variability and highlight a potential role for thalamocortical projections in this process.https://elifesciences.org/articles/55872reinforcement learningbehavioral variabilitytimingThalamus |
| spellingShingle | Jing Wang Eghbal Hosseini Nicolas Meirhaeghe Adam Akkad Mehrdad Jazayeri Reinforcement regulates timing variability in thalamus eLife reinforcement learning behavioral variability timing Thalamus |
| title | Reinforcement regulates timing variability in thalamus |
| title_full | Reinforcement regulates timing variability in thalamus |
| title_fullStr | Reinforcement regulates timing variability in thalamus |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reinforcement regulates timing variability in thalamus |
| title_short | Reinforcement regulates timing variability in thalamus |
| title_sort | reinforcement regulates timing variability in thalamus |
| topic | reinforcement learning behavioral variability timing Thalamus |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/55872 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jingwang reinforcementregulatestimingvariabilityinthalamus AT eghbalhosseini reinforcementregulatestimingvariabilityinthalamus AT nicolasmeirhaeghe reinforcementregulatestimingvariabilityinthalamus AT adamakkad reinforcementregulatestimingvariabilityinthalamus AT mehrdadjazayeri reinforcementregulatestimingvariabilityinthalamus |