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Neural dynamics underlying self-control in the primate subthalamic nucleus

The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is hypothesized to play a central role in neural processes that regulate self-control. Still uncertain, however, is how that brain structure participates in the dynamically evolving estimation of value that underlies the ability to delay gratification and wait patiently...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Pasquereau, Benjamin, Turner, Robert S
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10259453/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37204300
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.83971
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author Pasquereau, Benjamin
Turner, Robert S
author_facet Pasquereau, Benjamin
Turner, Robert S
author_sort Pasquereau, Benjamin
collection PubMed
description The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is hypothesized to play a central role in neural processes that regulate self-control. Still uncertain, however, is how that brain structure participates in the dynamically evolving estimation of value that underlies the ability to delay gratification and wait patiently for a gain. To address that gap in knowledge, we studied the spiking activity of neurons in the STN of monkeys during a task in which animals were required to remain motionless for varying periods of time in order to obtain food reward. At the single-neuron and population levels, we found a cost–benefit integration between the desirability of the expected reward and the imposed delay to reward delivery, with STN signals that dynamically combined both attributes of the reward to form a single integrated estimate of value. This neural encoding of subjective value evolved dynamically across the waiting period that intervened after instruction cue. Moreover, this encoding was distributed inhomogeneously along the antero-posterior axis of the STN such that the most dorso-posterior-placed neurons represented the temporal discounted value most strongly. These findings highlight the selective involvement of the dorso-posterior STN in the representation of temporally discounted rewards. The combination of rewards and time delays into an integrated representation is essential for self-control, the promotion of goal pursuit, and the willingness to bear the costs of time delays.
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spelling pubmed-102594532023-06-13 Neural dynamics underlying self-control in the primate subthalamic nucleus Pasquereau, Benjamin Turner, Robert S eLife Neuroscience The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is hypothesized to play a central role in neural processes that regulate self-control. Still uncertain, however, is how that brain structure participates in the dynamically evolving estimation of value that underlies the ability to delay gratification and wait patiently for a gain. To address that gap in knowledge, we studied the spiking activity of neurons in the STN of monkeys during a task in which animals were required to remain motionless for varying periods of time in order to obtain food reward. At the single-neuron and population levels, we found a cost–benefit integration between the desirability of the expected reward and the imposed delay to reward delivery, with STN signals that dynamically combined both attributes of the reward to form a single integrated estimate of value. This neural encoding of subjective value evolved dynamically across the waiting period that intervened after instruction cue. Moreover, this encoding was distributed inhomogeneously along the antero-posterior axis of the STN such that the most dorso-posterior-placed neurons represented the temporal discounted value most strongly. These findings highlight the selective involvement of the dorso-posterior STN in the representation of temporally discounted rewards. The combination of rewards and time delays into an integrated representation is essential for self-control, the promotion of goal pursuit, and the willingness to bear the costs of time delays. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2023-05-19 /pmc/articles/PMC10259453/ /pubmed/37204300 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.83971 Text en © 2023, Pasquereau and Turner https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Pasquereau, Benjamin
Turner, Robert S
Neural dynamics underlying self-control in the primate subthalamic nucleus
title Neural dynamics underlying self-control in the primate subthalamic nucleus
title_full Neural dynamics underlying self-control in the primate subthalamic nucleus
title_fullStr Neural dynamics underlying self-control in the primate subthalamic nucleus
title_full_unstemmed Neural dynamics underlying self-control in the primate subthalamic nucleus
title_short Neural dynamics underlying self-control in the primate subthalamic nucleus
title_sort neural dynamics underlying self-control in the primate subthalamic nucleus
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10259453/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37204300
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.83971
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