Updated May 10, 2022
Research Spotlight
Dynamics of Visual Perceptual Decision-Making in Freely Behaving Mice
Exploring the temporal dynamics of perceptual decisions from onset of the sensory input through the initiation of behavioral responses affords a key window into the underlying cognitive processes. You and Mysore present a quantitative breakdown of the time course of visual discrimination in the mouse during naturalistic behavior. They demonstrate parallel stages of mouse visual decision dynamics to those of humans, and estimate basic constants governing mouse visual decisions. This study sets the stage for future investigations into the brain basis of the dynamics of perceptual decision-making in health and disease using the genetically-tractable mouse model.
Sex Differences in Behavioral Responding and Dopamine Release during Pavlovian Learning
The midbrain dopamine system is critical for learning to associate cues with rewarding outcomes. Lefner et al. examined how male and female rats responded during a Pavlovian conditioning task where one cue signaled a small reward and another cue signaled a large reward. The authors found that females displayed elevated behavioral responding during the cue presentation and following reward delivery compared to males. Furthermore, females exhibited smaller reward-evoked dopamine release relative to males. These findings highlight sex differences in behavioral responding and dopamine release throughout Pavlovian learning.