Dopamine biases decisions by limiting temporal integration

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gautham, Aditya K.; Miner, Lauren E.; Franco, Marco N.; Thornquist, Stephen C.; Crickmore, Michael A.
• 署名单位: Harvard University; Harvard University Medical Affiliates; Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard Medical School; Rockefeller University
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-5038
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07749-7
• 发表日期: 2024-08-22
• 页码: 850-+
• 关键词: neural activity; neurons control; drosophila; kinase; autophosphorylation; receptivity; calmodulin; BEHAVIOR; network; cortex

摘要

Motivations bias our responses to stimuli, producing behavioural outcomes that match our needs and goals. Here we describe a mechanism behind this phenomenon: adjusting the time over which stimulus-derived information is permitted to accumulate towards a decision. As a Drosophila copulation progresses, the male becomes less likely to continue mating through challenges(1-3). We show that a set of copulation decision neurons (CDNs) flexibly integrates information about competing drives to mediate this decision. Early in mating, dopamine signalling restricts CDN integration time by potentiating Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) activation in response to stimulatory inputs, imposing a high threshold for changing behaviours. Later into mating, the timescale over which the CDNs integrate termination-promoting information expands, increasing the likelihood of switching behaviours. We suggest scalable windows of temporal integration at dedicated circuit nodes as a key but underappreciated variable in state-based decision-making.