Neural correlates of position, progress, and action during reward-guided sequence navigation in the rat medial prefrontal cortex

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorGupta, Kushaan
dc.contributor.authorUniversity of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science
dc.contributor.supervisorEuston, David R.
dc.date.accessioned2024-10-04T20:28:10Z
dc.date.available2024-10-04T20:28:10Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.degree.levelMasters
dc.description.abstractThe complexity surrounding the seamless execution of skilled action sequences during sparse rewards necessitates an organization of behavior into modular, temporally extended sub-policies. The rodent Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) has emerged as a critical brain region implicated in orchestrating such action plans over extended time frames. Previous research has shed light on the mPFC’s mechanistic contributions to the control of behavior through investigations into its numerous attributed roles, encompassing working memory, spatial representation, decision-making, and task-specific generalization. We investigated the neural correlates of position, task-specific features, and actions within the rat mPFC during a behaviorally elaborate, reward-guided sequence navigation paradigm. We identified a significant proportion of mPFC neurons exhibiting a robust task-specific code for tracking animal’s progress between rewards, characterized most prominently by modulation departures from and approaches to reward zones. Furthermore, initial population-level analyses suggested a representation of prospective non-immediate actions, encoded as turn directions, extending beyond immediate temporal horizons. However, subsequent in-depth examination revealed that these initial findings could not hold up to predict future actions at single-trial level. Instead, the apparent prospective coding of turn directions seemed to be confounded by preparatory motor behaviors within the navigational environment. Consequently, these results call for a reassessment of the influence of various sensorimotor factors on mPFC activity during goal-directed decision-making, challenging the prevailing methodologies used to infer cognitive processes within this region.
dc.description.sponsorshipGovernment of Alberta, University of Lethbridge
dc.embargoNo
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10133/6934
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherLethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Neuroscience
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Neuroscience
dc.publisher.facultyArts and Science
dc.relation.ispartofseriesThesis (University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science)
dc.subjectrodent
dc.subjectbrain
dc.subjectneurons
dc.subjectneurophysiology
dc.subjectneural activity
dc.subjectspike
dc.subjectneuronal activity
dc.subjectneuroscience
dc.subjectneurobiology
dc.subjectprefrontal cortex
dc.subjectmedial prefrontal cortex
dc.subjectcingulate gyrus
dc.subjectcingulate gyrus 1
dc.subjectanterior cingulate cortex
dc.subjectprelimbic
dc.subjectnavigation
dc.subjectspatial sequence navigation
dc.subjectbrain stimulation
dc.subjectdecision-making
dc.subjectdecision making
dc.subjectdecision making in animals
dc.subjectplanning
dc.subjectworking memory
dc.subjectabstraction
dc.subjectgeneralization
dc.subjectspatial representation
dc.subjectvalue representation
dc.subjectaction representation
dc.subjecttetrode
dc.subjectneural decoding
dc.subjectdeep learning
dc.subjectdeep neural network
dc.subjectprincipal component analysis
dc.subjectsupport vector machine
dc.subjectNeuroAI
dc.subject.lcshRats
dc.subject.lcshBrain--Research
dc.subject.lcshNeurons--Research
dc.subject.lcshPrefrontal cortex--Research
dc.subject.lcshPrefrontal cortex--Physiology
dc.subject.lcshDecision making--Physiological aspects
dc.subject.lcshDecision making in animals--Research
dc.subject.lcshRats as laboratory animals
dc.subject.lcshAnimal navigation
dc.subject.lcshShort-term memory
dc.subject.lcshDissertations, Academic
dc.titleNeural correlates of position, progress, and action during reward-guided sequence navigation in the rat medial prefrontal cortex
dc.typeThesis
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
GUPTA_KUSHAAN_MSC_2024.pdf
Size:
7.56 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
3.33 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Arts and Science, Faculty of
University of Lethbridge Theses