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: 2013
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2013-01-01 至 2014-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=527326
• 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.

了解我们偏爱某一特定选项的机制，以及不同因素如何影响这一决定，是认知和行为神经科学的首要目标之一。基于实验室的范例，其中决策框架内的特定因素(延迟/概率/努力)是系统地变化的，这为我们提供了关于潜在神经的丰富信息，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，有可能测试人类数据所暗示的因果关系，并进一步描述选择过程的药理学和分子调控。鉴于这个世界上的大多数决策都需要分配认知努力，我们的建议解决了这样一个问题，即大鼠在做出决策时是否对精神紧张的维度敏感，以及在执行此类判断时可能涉及哪些神经生物学过程。为此，我们开发了一种新的范式-大鼠认知努力任务(R-CET)-在该任务中，大鼠选择是执行要求注意的任务，在该任务中，它们必须检测非常短暂的光刺激的空间位置，还是执行更容易的任务，在该任务中，刺激被照射的时间更长，因此更容易定位。正确地执行更困难的选项会带来更大的回报。有趣的是，动物在选择更难测试的程度上存在显著的个体差异，导致动物被归类为“工人”或“懒汉”。这种分类与动物进行艰难或简单试验的能力无关，也就是说，无论刺激持续时间长短，工作人员和懒惰人员在检测视觉目标方面都一样准确。因此，我们似乎可以将付出认知努力的意愿与完成更费力的任务的能力分开。这项提案中概述的实验旨在建立在我们对这一新的决策任务的初步特征的基础上，并确定涉及的大脑区域、化学物质和分子信号通路。