RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Neural evidence for the successor representation in choice evaluation
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.08.29.458114
DO 10.1101/2021.08.29.458114
A1 Russek, Evan M.
A1 Momennejad, Ida
A1 Botvinick, Matthew M.
A1 Gershman, Samuel J.
A1 Daw, Nathaniel D.
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/08/31/2021.08.29.458114.abstract
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.