G. Jocham: Decision making: associative memory and patch-leaving

Abstract

The first part of the presentation will focus on the bi-directional interaction between memory and decision making. Decisions are guided by information stored in memory. I will present behavioural and fMRI data acquired during a second-order conditioning (SOC) paradigm to provide evidence that, during higher-order learning, outcome-predictive conditioned stimuli reinstate the cortical representations of the outcome with which they had previously been paired. This may allow transfer of motivational value to novel stimuli that had never been directly paired with reinforcement. Next, I will argue that the mere act of making a choice may in turn shape our associative memories. Simply choosing/not choosing an option from a pair (absent any outcome) was sufficient to (i) increase/decrease choice probabilities compared to an otherwise equally-valued alternative option and to (ii) strengthen/weaken hippocampal stimulus-outcome associations.

The second part will address the relationship between a measure of cortical excitation/inhibition (E/I) balance and two different kinds of decision making. The decision of whether or not to incur a travel cost in order to abandon a depleting patch (in favour of a better alternative) was related to E/I balance in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. In contrast, simple reward-maximizing decisions were related to E/I balance in ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

 

Zoom link: https://tu-dresden.zoom.us/j/81446606517?pwd=VzdNYWZkY3VGSlBFZlRUWSt1T05uZz09 

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