scholarly journals Unilateral optogenetic inhibition and excitation of basal ganglia output show opposing effects on directional lick choices and movement initiation in mice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur E. Morrissette ◽  
Po-Han Chen ◽  
Conrad Bhamani ◽  
Peter Y. Borden ◽  
Christian Waiblinger ◽  
...  

AbstractModels of basal ganglia function predict that tonic inhibitory output to motor thalamus suppresses unwanted movements, and that a decrease in such activity leads to action selection. A direct test of these outcomes of thalamic inhibition has not been performed, however. To conduct such a direct test, we utilized rapid optogenetic activation and inactivation of the GABAergic output of the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) to motor thalamus in mice that were trained in a sensory cued left/right licking task. Directional licking tasks have previously been shown to depend on a thalamocortical feedback loop between ventromedial motor thalamus and antero-lateral premotor cortex (Li et al., 2015; Guo et al., 2017). In confirmation of model predictions, we found that 1s of unilateral optogenetic inhibition of GABAergic output from the SNr biased decision making towards the contralateral lick spout with ipsilaterally cued trials while leaving motor performance intact. In contrast, 1s of optogenetic excitation of SNr terminals in motor thalamus resulted in an opposite bias towards the ipsilateral direction confirming a bidirectional effect of tonic nigral output on directional decision making. In a second variant of the task we disallowed anticipatory licking and found that successful suppression of anticipatory licking was also impacted by our optogenetic manipulations in agreement with the suppressive effect of tonic nigral output. Nevertheless, direct unilateral excitation of SNr cell bodies resulted in bilateral movement suppression, suggesting that descending motor pathways from the SNr to superior colliculus also play an important role in the control of licking behavior.Significance StatementThis study provides the first evidence that basal ganglia output to motor thalamus can control decision making in left/right licking choices and suppress anticipatory movement initiation. Unilateral optogenetic inhibition or excitation of basal ganglia output via the substantia nigra resulted in opposite changes of directional lick choices and could override the sensory information on lick direction provided by a whisker stimulus. These results suggest that basal ganglia output gates activity in a thalamo-cortical feedback loop previously shown to underlie the control of forced choice directional licking behavior. The results substantiate models stating that tonic inhibition of motor thalamus from the basal ganglia directs action selection and suppresses unwanted movements.

Author(s):  
Petra Fischer

In humans, finely tuned gamma synchronization (60-90 Hz) rapidly appears at movement onset in a motor control network involving primary motor cortex, the basals ganglia and motor thalamus. Yet the functional consequences of brief movement-related synchronization are still unclear. Distinct synchronization phenomena have also been linked to different forms of motor inhibition, including relaxing antagonist muscles, rapid movement interruption and stabilizing network dynamics for sustained contractions. Here I will introduce detailed hypotheses about how intra- and inter-site synchronization could interact with firing rate changes in different parts of the network to enable flexible action control. The here proposed cause-and-effect relationships shine a spotlight on potential key mechanisms of cortico-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical communication. Confirming or revising these hypotheses will be critical in understanding the neuronal basis of flexible movement initiation, invigoration and inhibition. Ultimately, the study of more complex cognitive phenomena will also become more tractable once we understand the neuronal mechanisms underlying behavioural readouts.


2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (12) ◽  
pp. 3025-3040 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Guthrie ◽  
A. Leblois ◽  
A. Garenne ◽  
T. Boraud

In a previous modeling study, Leblois et al. (2006) demonstrated an action selection mechanism in cortico-basal ganglia loops based on competition between the positive feedback, direct pathway through the striatum and the negative feedback, hyperdirect pathway through the subthalamic nucleus. The present study investigates how multiple level action selection could be performed by the basal ganglia. To do this, the model is extended in a manner consistent with known anatomy and electrophysiology in three main areas. First, two-level decision making has been incorporated, with a cognitive level selecting based on cue shape and a motor level selecting based on cue position. We show that the decision made at the cognitive level can be used to bias the decision at the motor level. We then demonstrate that, for accurate transmission of information between decision-making levels, low excitability of striatal projection neurons is necessary, a generally observed electrophysiological finding. Second, instead of providing a biasing signal between cue choices as an external input to the network, we show that the action selection process can be driven by reasonable levels of noise. Finally, we incorporate dopamine modulated learning at corticostriatal synapses. As learning progresses, the action selection becomes based on learned visual cue values and is not interfered with by the noise that was necessary before learning.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Gilbertson ◽  
Douglas Steele

AbstractTo make optimal decisions in uncertain circumstances flexible adaption of behaviour is required; exploring alternatives when the best choice is unknown, exploiting what is known when that is best. Using a detailed computational model of the basal ganglia, we propose that switches between exploratory and exploitative decisions can be mediated by the interaction between tonic dopamine and cortical input to the basal ganglia. We show that a biologically detailed action selection circuit model of the basal ganglia, endowed with dopamine dependant striatal plasticity, can optimally solve the explore-exploit problem, estimating the true underlying state of a noisy Gaussian diffusion process. Critical to the model’s performance was a fluctuating level of tonic dopamine which increased under conditions of uncertainty. With an optimal range of tonic dopamine, explore-exploit decision making was mediated by the effects of tonic dopamine on the precision of the model action selection mechanism. Under conditions of uncertain reward pay-out, the model’s reduced selectivity allowed disinhibition of multiple alternative actions to be explored at random. Conversely, when uncertainly about reward pay-out was low, enhanced selectivity of the action selection circuit was enhanced, facilitating exploitation of the high value choice. When integrated with phasic dopamine dependant influences on cortico-striatal plasticity, the model’s performance was at the level of the Kalman filter which provides an optimal solution for the task. Our model provides an integrative account of the relationship between phasic and tonic dopamine and the action selection function of the basal ganglia and supports the idea that this subcortical neural circuit may have evolved to facilitate decision making in non-stationary reward environments, allowing a number of experimental predictions with relevance to abnormal decision making in neuropsychiatric and neurological disease.


eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaud L Lalive ◽  
Anthony D Lien ◽  
Thomas K Roseberry ◽  
Christopher H Donahue ◽  
Anatol C Kreitzer

Reinforcement has long been thought to require striatal synaptic plasticity. Indeed, direct striatal manipulations such as self-stimulation of direct-pathway projection neurons (dMSNs) are sufficient to induce reinforcement within minutes. However, it’s unclear what role, if any, is played by downstream circuitry. Here, we used dMSN self-stimulation in mice as a model for striatum-driven reinforcement and mapped the underlying circuitry across multiple basal ganglia nuclei and output targets. We found that mimicking the effects of dMSN activation on downstream circuitry, through optogenetic suppression of basal ganglia output nucleus substantia nigra reticulata (SNr) or activation of SNr targets in the brainstem or thalamus, was also sufficient to drive rapid reinforcement. Remarkably, silencing motor thalamus—but not other selected targets of SNr—was the only manipulation that reduced dMSN-driven reinforcement. Together, these results point to an unexpected role for basal ganglia output to motor thalamus in striatum-driven reinforcement.


2014 ◽  
Vol 111 (4) ◽  
pp. 804-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Safraaz Mahamed ◽  
Tiffany J. Garrison ◽  
Joel Shires ◽  
Michele A. Basso

In the absence of sensory information, we rely on past experience or memories to guide our actions. Because previous experimental and clinical reports implicate basal ganglia nuclei in the generation of movement in the absence of sensory stimuli, we ask here whether one output nucleus of the basal ganglia, the substantia nigra pars reticulata (nigra), influences the specification of an eye movement in the absence of sensory information to guide the movement. We manipulated the level of activity of neurons in the nigra by introducing electrical stimulation to the nigra at different time intervals while monkeys made saccades to different locations in two conditions: one in which the target location remained visible and a second in which the target location appeared only briefly, requiring information stored in memory to specify the movement. Electrical manipulation of the nigra occurring during the delay period of the task, when information about the target was maintained in memory, altered the direction and the occurrence of subsequent saccades. Stimulation during other intervals of the memory task or during the delay period of the visually guided saccade task had less effect on eye movements. On stimulated trials, and only when the visual stimulus was absent, monkeys occasionally (∼20% of the time) failed to make saccades. When monkeys made saccades in the absence of a visual stimulus, stimulation of the nigra resulted in a rotation of the endpoints ipsilaterally (∼2°) and increased the reaction time of contralaterally directed saccades. When the visual stimulus was present, stimulation of the nigra resulted in no significant rotation and decreased the reaction time of contralaterally directed saccades slightly. Based on these measurements, stimulation during the delay period of the memory-guided saccade task influenced the metrics of saccades much more than did stimulation during the same period of the visually guided saccade task. Because these effects occurred with manipulation of nigral activity well before the initiation of saccades and in trials in which the visual stimulus was absent, we conclude that information from the basal ganglia influences the specification of an action as it is evolving primarily during performance of memory-guided saccades. When visual information is available to guide the specification of the saccade, as occurs during visually guided saccades, basal ganglia information is less influential.


Author(s):  
Lidia K Simanjuntak ◽  
Tessa Y M Sihite ◽  
Mesran Mesran ◽  
Nuning Kurniasih ◽  
Yuhandri Yuhandri

All colleges each year organize the selection of new admissions. Acceptance of prospective students in universities as education providers is done by selecting prospective students based on achievement in school and college entrance selection. To select the best student candidates based on predetermined criteria, then use Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) or commonly called decision support system. One method in MCDM is the Elimination Et Choix Traduisant la Reality (ELECTRE). The ELECTRE method is the best method of action selection. The ELECTRE method to obtain the best alternative by eliminating alternative that do not fit the criteria and can be applied to the decision SNMPTN invitation path.


Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 2461
Author(s):  
Alexander Kuc ◽  
Vadim V. Grubov ◽  
Vladimir A. Maksimenko ◽  
Natalia Shusharina ◽  
Alexander N. Pisarchik ◽  
...  

Perceptual decision-making requires transforming sensory information into decisions. An ambiguity of sensory input affects perceptual decisions inducing specific time-frequency patterns on EEG (electroencephalogram) signals. This paper uses a wavelet-based method to analyze how ambiguity affects EEG features during a perceptual decision-making task. We observe that parietal and temporal beta-band wavelet power monotonically increases throughout the perceptual process. Ambiguity induces high frontal beta-band power at 0.3–0.6 s post-stimulus onset. It may reflect the increasing reliance on the top-down mechanisms to facilitate accumulating decision-relevant sensory features. Finally, this study analyzes the perceptual process using mixed within-trial and within-subject design. First, we found significant percept-related changes in each subject and then test their significance at the group level. Thus, observed beta-band biomarkers are pronounced in single EEG trials and may serve as control commands for brain-computer interface (BCI).


Author(s):  
S. Unsal ◽  
A. Shirkhodaie ◽  
A. H. Soni

Abstract Adding sensing capability to a robot provides the robot with intelligent perception capability and flexibility of decision making. To perform intelligent tasks, robots are highly required to perceive their operating environment, and react accordingly. With this regard, tactile sensors offer to extend the scope of intelligence of a robot for performing tasks which require object touching, recognition, and manipulation. This paper presents the design of an inexpensive pneumatic binary-array tactile sensor for such robotic applications. The paper describes some of the techniques implemented for object recognition from binary sensory information. Furthermore, it details the development of software and hardware which facilitate the sensor to provide useful information to a robot so that the robot perceives its operating environment during manipulation of objects.


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