Bukwich, Michael;
Campbell, Malcolm G;
Zoltowski, David;
Kingsbury, Lyle;
Tomov, Momchil S;
Stern, Joshua;
Kim, HyungGoo R;
... Uchida, Naoshige; + view all
(2025)
Competitive integration of time and reward explains value-sensitive foraging decisions and frontal cortex ramping dynamics.
Neuron
10.1016/j.neuron.2025.07.008.
(In press).
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Abstract
Patch foraging is a ubiquitous decision-making process in which animals decide when to abandon a resource patch of diminishing value to pursue an alternative. We developed a virtual foraging task in which mouse behavior varied systematically with patch value. Behavior could be explained by models integrating time and rewards antagonistically, scaled by a slowly varying latent patience state. Describing a mechanism rather than a normative prescription, these models quantitatively captured deviations from optimal foraging theory. Neuropixels recordings throughout frontal areas revealed distributed ramping signals, concentrated in the frontal cortex, from which multiple integrator models' decision variables could be decoded equally well. These signals reflected key aspects of decision models: they ramped gradually, responded oppositely to time and rewards, were sensitive to patch richness, and retained memory of reward history. Together, these results identify integration via frontal cortex ramping dynamics as a candidate mechanism for solving patch-foraging problems.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Competitive integration of time and reward explains value-sensitive foraging decisions and frontal cortex ramping dynamics |
| Location: | United States |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.07.008 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.07.008 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | decision making, foraging, frontal cortex, latent state, Marginal Value Theorem, neural integration, Neuropixels, patch foraging, ramping activity, virtual reality |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10214233 |
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