Contextual Control of Choice – CoCoChoice

Representations of value guide our everyday choices. Faced with a decision between two courses of action we, and other animals, typically choose the action that delivers the more valuable consequence or outcome. Such behavior is defined as ‘goal-directed’. Goal-directed behavior is essential for adapting to an ever-changing world. It allows us to integrate our knowledge about the relationships among events in the environment with our current needs and desires in order to select the appropriate response. The study of goal-directed behavior has considerably improved our knowledge of the cognitive and neural processes supporting decision making. But there is one notable exception. This field has largely ignored the influence of environmental context on decisions. However, recent reports indicate that context can bias our decisions. A targeted effort is therefore required to understand the role of context in decision making at the level of both brain and behavior.
CoCoChoice uses a rodent model of goal-directed behavior to study the neurocognitive bases of the contextual control of choice. The first objective is to investigate how context influences choice behavior. Using principles from Experimental Psychology, we will examine how changes in environmental context can modify action selection. We will also consider cases in which goal-directed behavior is impaired (e.g., drug addiction) and will identify whether context can be used to restore goal-directed control. The second objective focuses on the brain circuit that underlies the contextual control of choice. Previous research has shown that the amygdala and ventral striatum play important roles in goal-directed behavior and the hippocampus has been extensively implicated in contextual representations. CoCoChoice will therefore test the hypothesis that the contextual control of choice requires dynamic interactions between the amygdala, the ventral striatum and the hippocampus. A dual virus chemogenetic approach will be used to transiently inhibit communication between these regions during goal-directed behavior.
CoCoChoice will contribute to the current international effort to understand the neurocognitive bases of decisions. This proposal provides a novel theoretical framework for the study of choice behavior and will advance the development of computational and biological models of decision making. Understanding the contextual control of choice will also provide a science-based platform for translation to neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by deficits in decision making including addiction, schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder.