Should I stay or should I go? A neural system responsible for foraging decisions

• Applicant: Dr. Sarah Starosta
• Subject Area: General, Cognitive and Mathematical Psychology
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 392464380

In everyday life, we are continuously confronted with the decision of whether to stay engaged with our current behavior or switch to a new course of action. For example, should I keep my old car, whose utility continuously decreases, or should I invest money to buy a new one? This decision depends on the subjective loss of staying with the old car, the cost of a new one, and what cars are available on the market, among other variables. Despite the importance of these stay-or-leave decisions, most studies into the neuronal basis of decision making have focused on choices based on either perceptual or value information. The objective of the project described in this proposal is to investigate the neuronal basis of stay-or-leave decisions in a paradigm inspired by a classic foraging theory from neuroethology– the Marginal Value Theorem (MVT). Studies analyzing decision making in a foraging framework consistently report that foraging behavior can be adequately described by the decision rule proposed by the MVT. On a neuronal level, several imaging studies, as well as single unit recordings and lesion studies, point to an involvement of a part of the prefrontal cortex (anterior cingulate cortex, ACC) in foraging decisions. However, a comprehensive understanding linking theoretical, electrophysiological (correlative) and inactivation (causal) data is missing. To provide such comprehensive data, I will investigate the behavioral and neuronal mechanisms of foraging decisions guided by three aims: First, to identify the behavioral algorithm underlying foraging decisions, i.e. describe with a computational modelling approach the decision rule animals use when deciding whether to stay with the current option or leave; second, to investigate neuronal firing patterns in ACC and test if this activity predicts behavior; and third, to test if these neuronal activity patterns in the ACC during foraging are necessary to produce optimal foraging behavior by inhibiting neuronal activity in ACC and observing the impact on behavior.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Adam Kepecs, Ph.D.