Computational Neuroscience Research Club

The Computational Neuroscience Research Club presents a seminar by Dr. Emilio Salinas, Dept. of Neurobiology & Anatomy. Wake Forest University titled "From guessing to knowing: neural correlates of random and informed decisions during rapid choices."
 

Abstract:  In situations that require a fast action in response to a sensory event, success depends on the interplay between perceptual and motor neural processes, but characterizing their individual contributions has been challenging. A key problem is that the main timing measure in most experiments is the reaction time, which reflects all the cognitive factors that participate in the choice. We recently developed a task that simulates an urgent decision and allows a clean dissociation between perceptual and motor performance. The resulting saccadic choices are fast, and may be either random or informed, depending on the amount of stimulus viewing time, or processing time, available in each trial. We find that during task performance, neurons in the frontal eye field reflect the internal conflict associated with making a choice, and both the time at which the conflict is resolved and its intensity depend strongly on processing time. The results agree closely with predictions from a model in which perceptual information acts by accelerating or decelerating ongoing motor plans. The results indicate that, during rapid choices, motor preparation does not wait for cognitive or perceptual events to unfold, but rather is an ongoing process that takes them into account whenever they occur.

Host: Raj Rao (rao@cs.washington.edu)