Neuronal mechanisms for social information processing.

社会信息处理的神经机制。

• 批准号: BB/Z514780/1
• 负责人: Simone Ferrari Toniolo
• 金额: $ 53.49万
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FZ514780%2F1
• 关键词: Neuronal; mechanisms; social; information; processing.

Uncertainty influences the perceived value of rewards and affects our decision strategies. We learn about uncertainty through personal experience and by observing the actions and outcomes of others. This proposal investigates the brain processes underlying the learning of uncertainty from own and social experience.The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the amygdala have been shown to play crucial roles in value-based decision making, and interaction between these brain structures is thought to be critical for learning. However, it is unclear how they differentially contribute to learning about the uncertainty of choice options. Furthermore, it is not known whether they differentially encode the uncertainty learned through personal experiences compared to that learned through observation.To address these questions, we train monkeys in a behavioural task involving decision-making and observation of choices made by a partner monkey. We perform simultaneous recording of single-neuron activity in the OFC and amygdala. We quantify and characterize uncertainty using economic principles, relating this rigorous uncertainty measure to the neuronal activity. We explore the neural correlates of uncertainty across the recorded brain regions. Furthermore, we employ ultrasound stimulation to investigate the specific roles and interactions between these brain regions during the learning process.Our primary objective is to identify neurons that encode uncertainty associated with either the subject's own choices or those observed from others. Second, we aim to compare the timing of activation and uncertainty-coding between the OFC and amygdala neurons to infer the direction of information flow during the learning of uncertainty. Third, using ultrasound stimulation to disrupt activity in each brain region, we seek to discern the specific contribution of each area and their interactions during the learning process.We expect specific neuronal populations to robustly encode uncertainty within both OFC and amygdala. Some of these neurons may exhibit distinct response patterns based on whether uncertainty arises from own experiences or from observational learning. We expect differences in activation and coding times between the two areas, implying a directional flow of information during the uncertainty learning process. Using ultrasound stimulation, we anticipate gaining insights into the precise roles played by the OFC and amygdala and their interplay during the learning of uncertainty information.This study will advance our understanding of social information processing in the brain, by elucidating how the OFC and amygdala specifically code and update uncertainty information in a social context. These results will provide insights into the fundamental mechanisms underlying uncertainty processing, which may also be dysfunctional in conditions such as anxiety and addiction.

不确定性影响奖励的感知价值，影响我们的决策策略。我们通过个人经历和观察他人的行为和结果来了解不确定性。这一提议调查了从自身和社会经验中学习不确定性的大脑过程。眼窝前额皮质（OFC）和杏仁核已被证明在基于价值的决策中起着至关重要的作用，这些大脑结构之间的相互作用被认为对学习至关重要。然而，目前尚不清楚它们如何不同地有助于了解选择选项的不确定性。此外，我们也不知道他们对通过个人经历学习到的不确定性的编码与通过观察学习到的不确定性的编码是否有差异。为了解决这些问题，我们训练猴子进行一项行为任务，包括决策和观察同伴做出的选择。我们同时记录OFC和杏仁核的单个神经元活动。我们使用经济原理量化和表征不确定性，将这种严格的不确定性测量与神经元活动联系起来。我们在记录的大脑区域中探索不确定性的神经相关性。此外，我们采用超声刺激来研究这些大脑区域在学习过程中的具体作用和相互作用。我们的主要目标是识别那些编码不确定性的神经元，这些不确定性要么与受试者自己的选择有关，要么与他人观察到的不确定性有关。其次，我们的目的是比较OFC和杏仁核神经元之间的激活时间和不确定性编码，以推断不确定性学习过程中的信息流方向。第三，使用超声波刺激来破坏每个大脑区域的活动，我们试图辨别每个区域的具体贡献及其在学习过程中的相互作用。我们期望特定的神经元群在OFC和杏仁核中都强有力地编码不确定性。这些神经元中的一些可能会根据不确定性是来自自身经验还是来自观察学习而表现出不同的反应模式。我们预计这两个区域在激活和编码时间上存在差异，这意味着在不确定性学习过程中信息有方向性流动。利用超声刺激，我们期望深入了解OFC和杏仁核在学习不确定性信息过程中所扮演的确切角色及其相互作用。本研究通过阐明OFC和杏仁核在社会环境中如何编码和更新不确定性信息，将促进我们对大脑社会信息处理的理解。这些结果将为不确定性处理的基本机制提供见解，不确定性处理也可能在焦虑和成瘾等情况下功能失调。