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Inhibitory midbrain neurons mediate decision making

Jaclyn Essig, Joshua B. Hunt, Gidon Felsen
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.25.965699
Jaclyn Essig
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and Neuroscience Program University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, United States of America
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Joshua B. Hunt
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and Neuroscience Program University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, United States of America
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Gidon Felsen
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and Neuroscience Program University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, United States of America
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  • For correspondence: gidon.felsen@cuanschutz.edu
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Abstract

Decision making is critical for survival but its neural basis is unclear. Here we examine how functional neural circuitry in the output layers of the midbrain superior colliculus (SC) mediates spatial choice, an SC-dependent tractable form of decision making. We focus on the role of inhibitory SC neurons, using optogenetics to record and manipulate their activity in behaving mice. Based on data from SC slice experiments and on a canonical role of inhibitory neurons in cortical microcircuits, we hypothesized that inhibitory SC neurons locally inhibit premotor output neurons that represent contralateral targets. However, our experimental results refuted this hypothesis. An attractor model revealed that our results were instead consistent with inhibitory neurons providing long-range inhibition between the two SCs, and terminal activation experiments supported this architecture. Our study provides mechanistic evidence for competitive inhibition between populations representing discrete choices, a common motif in theoretical models of decision making.

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Posted February 27, 2020.
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Inhibitory midbrain neurons mediate decision making
Jaclyn Essig, Joshua B. Hunt, Gidon Felsen
bioRxiv 2020.02.25.965699; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.25.965699
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Inhibitory midbrain neurons mediate decision making
Jaclyn Essig, Joshua B. Hunt, Gidon Felsen
bioRxiv 2020.02.25.965699; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.25.965699

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