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Value Representations in the Rodent Orbitofrontal Cortex Drive Learning, not Choice

View ORCID ProfileKevin J. Miller, View ORCID ProfileMatthew M. Botvinick, View ORCID ProfileCarlos D. Brody
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/245720
Kevin J. Miller
1Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
2DeepMind, London, UK
3Department of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
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Matthew M. Botvinick
2DeepMind, London, UK
4Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, London, UK
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  • For correspondence: kjmiller@princeton.edu
Carlos D. Brody
1Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
5Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton NJ, USA
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  • For correspondence: kjmiller@princeton.edu
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Abstract

Humans and animals make predictions about the rewards they expect to receive in different situations. In formal models of behavior, these predictions are known as value representations, and they play two very different roles. Firstly, they drive choice: the expected values of available options are compared to one another, and the best option is selected. Secondly, they support learning: expected values are compared to rewards actually received, and future expectations are updated accordingly. Whether these different functions are mediated by different neural representations remains an open question. Here we employ a recently-developed multi-step task for rats that computationally separates learning from choosing. We investigate the role of value representations in the rodent orbitofrontal cortex, a key structure for value-based cognition. Electrophysiological recordings and optogenetic perturbations indicate that these representations do not directly drive choice. Instead, they signal expected reward information to a learning process elsewhere in the brain that updates choice mechanisms.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted August 10, 2020.
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Value Representations in the Rodent Orbitofrontal Cortex Drive Learning, not Choice
Kevin J. Miller, Matthew M. Botvinick, Carlos D. Brody
bioRxiv 245720; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/245720
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Value Representations in the Rodent Orbitofrontal Cortex Drive Learning, not Choice
Kevin J. Miller, Matthew M. Botvinick, Carlos D. Brody
bioRxiv 245720; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/245720

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