Dynamic task-belief is an integral part of decision-making

• Published in: Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 110; no. 15; pp. 2503 - 2511.e3
• Main Authors: Xue, Cheng, Kramer, Lily E., Cohen, Marlene R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 03.08.2022
• Subjects: Animals; area 7a; Cognition; cognitive flexibility; Decision Making - physiology; decision-making; Electrophysiology; Macaca mulatta; macaque monkey; Nerve Net; Neurons - physiology; parietal cortex; primary visual cortex; recurrent neural network; rule switching; visual cortex; Visual Cortex - physiology; primary visual cortex; recurrent neural network; rule switching; electrophysiology; decision-making; visual cortex; parietal cortex; macaque monkey; cognitive flexibility; area 7a
• ISSN: 0896-6273; 1097-4199; 1097-4199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.05.010

Natural decisions involve two seemingly separable processes: inferring the relevant task (task-belief) and performing the believed-relevant task. The assumed separability has led to the traditional practice of studying task-switching and perceptual decision-making individually. Here, we used a novel paradigm to manipulate and measure macaque monkeys’ task-belief and demonstrated inextricable neuronal links between flexible task-belief and perceptual decision-making. We showed that in animals, but not in artificial networks that performed as well or better than the animals, stronger task-belief is associated with better perception. Correspondingly, recordings from neuronal populations in cortical areas 7a and V1 revealed that stronger task-belief is associated with better discriminability of the believed-relevant, but not the believed-irrelevant, feature. Perception also impacts belief updating; noise fluctuations in V1 help explain how task-belief is updated. Our results demonstrate that complex tasks and multi-area recordings can reveal fundamentally new principles of how biology affects behavior in health and disease. [Display omitted] •We use neuronal activity to understand decision-making in uncertain task conditions•Task switching and perceptual decisions are inextricably linked•Stronger task-belief is associated with better perception of task-relevant features•Fluctuations in visual cortex affect how task-beliefs are updated Xue, Kramer, and Cohen studied decision-making when, as in real life, what needs to be decided is uncertain and changing. Interestingly, subjective beliefs about the task have inextricable neuronal links to perceptual decision-making. This suggests that task-switching and perceptual decision-making belong to a very integrated system in the brain.