PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Evan M. Russek
AU  - Ida Momennejad
AU  - Matthew M. Botvinick
AU  - Samuel J. Gershman
AU  - Nathaniel D. Daw
TI  - Neural evidence for the successor representation in choice evaluation
AID  - 10.1101/2021.08.29.458114
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.08.29.458114
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/08/31/2021.08.29.458114.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/08/31/2021.08.29.458114.full
AB  - Evaluating choices in multi-step tasks is thought to involve mentally simulating trajectories. Recent theories propose that the brain simplifies these laborious computations using temporal abstraction: storing actions’ consequences, collapsed over multiple timesteps (the Successor Representation; SR). Although predictive neural representations and, separately, behavioral errors (“slips of action”) consistent with this mechanism have been reported, it is unknown whether these neural representations support choices in a manner consistent with the SR. We addressed this question by using fMRI to measure predictive representations in a setting where the SR implies specific errors in multi-step expectancies and corresponding behavioral errors. By decoding measures of state predictions from sensory cortex during choice evaluation, we identified evidence that behavioral errors predicted by the SR are accompanied by predictive representations of upcoming task states reflecting SR predicted erroneous multi-step expectancies. These results provide neural evidence for the SR in choice evaluation and contribute toward a mechanistic understanding of flexible and inflexible decision making.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.