Complex decisions and the brain: an experimental and theoretical approach

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案的目标是扩展我们对决策的理解，超越迄今为止所研究的简单范例。生理记录和行为分析将用于描述猴子对更复杂的决策任务的反应；理论建模将有助于解释这些反应。到目前为止，我所受的训练使我非常适合这项工作：我在对清醒的、行为正常的猴子进行生理学实验方面有丰富的经验。此外，我有一定的理论建模经验；额外的培训将为我成为独立调查员做准备。作为一名博士后，我收集了从事多项选择决策任务的猴子的生理数据。这些数据有可能使我们对决策的理解取得重大进展：以前用于研究决策的任务的简单性表明，它们可能对一般的决策提供有限的见解。事实上，我的数据对当前的模型构成了重大挑战。拟议的职业发展计划包含了我现在的导师Shadlen博士的培训，他在理论技术上扩展了当前的模型，以解释更复杂的决策。我的合作导师，博士。Wang和Pouget已经同意进行合作来解决这个问题。合作能让我做到

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this proposal is to extend our understanding of decision-making beyond the simple paradigms that have been studied thus far. Physiological recording and behavioral analysis will be used to describe how monkeys respond to more complex decision tasks; theoretical modeling will help interpret the responses. My training thus far makes me ideally suited for this endeavor: I have extensive experience in conducting physiology experiments in awake, behaving monkeys. Further, I have some experience in theoretical modeling; additional training will prepare me to make advances as an independent investigator. As a postdoctoral fellow, I have collected physiological data from monkeys engaged in a multiple choice decision task. This data has the potential to make a major advance to our understanding of decision making: the simplicity of previous tasks used to study decision-making suggests that they may offer limited insight into decision-making in general. Indeed, my data pose a major challenge to current models. The proposed career development plan incorporates training from my current mentor, Dr. Shadlen, on theoretical techniques to extend current models to explain more complex decisions. My co-mentors, Drs. Wang and Pouget, have agreed to enter into a collaboration to address this question. The collaboration will allow me to consider two novel models. The combined training from three mentors will provide a foundation in theoretical neuroscience that I can combine with my experimental skills as an independent researcher. For my independent research, I propose to combine my experimental and theoretical skills on a new series of experiments that further test more complex decisions. These experiments combine the visual decision-making task from my postdoctoral work with a novel, auditory decision-making task. The goals of this work are twofold: first, I will ask how the models of decision-making can be extended to incorporate input from 2 modalities. Next, I will ask how behavioral and physiological responses change when decisions are based on evidence from two modalities. A number of clinical disorders, foremost among them Autism, appear to cause impairments in the ability to integrate sensory information. Identifying neural mechanisms that underlie sensory integration within and across modalities may inform clinical treatments for Autistic patients.