RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Dopamine neuron ensembles signal the content of sensory prediction errors
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 723908
DO 10.1101/723908
A1 Thomas A. Stalnaker
A1 James D. Howard
A1 Yuji K. Takahashi
A1 Samuel J. Gershman
A1 Thorsten Kahnt
A1 Geoffrey Schoenbaum
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/08/02/723908.abstract
AB Dopamine neurons respond to errors in predicting value-neutral sensory information. These data, combined with causal evidence that dopamine transients support sensory-based associative learning, suggest that the dopamine system signals a multidimensional prediction error. Yet such complexity is not evident in individual neuron or average neural activity. How then do downstream areas know what to learn in response to these signals? One possibility is that information about content is contained in the pattern of firing across many dopamine neurons. Consistent with this, here we show that the pattern of firing across a small group of dopamine neurons recorded in rats signals the identity of a mis-predicted sensory event. Further, this same information is reflected in the BOLD response elicited by sensory prediction errors in human midbrain. These data provide evidence that ensembles of dopamine neurons provide highly specific teaching signals, opening new possibilities for how this system might contribute to learning.