HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bogacz, R. Articles by Gurney, K. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Bogacz, R. Articles by Gurney, K.

The Basal Ganglia and Cortex Implement Optimal Decision Making Between Alternative Actions

R.Bogacz{at}bristol.ac.uk Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UB, U.K.

Kevin Gurney

K.Gurney{at}shef.ac.uk Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TP, U.K.

Neurophysiological studies have identified a number of brain regions critically involved in solving the problem of action selection or decision making. In the case of highly practiced tasks, these regions include cortical areas hypothesized to integrate evidence supporting alternative actions and the basal ganglia, hypothesized to act as a central switch in gating behavioral requests. However, despite our relatively detailed knowledge of basal ganglia biology and its connectivity with the cortex and numerical simulation studies demonstrating selective function, no formal theoretical framework exists that supplies an algorithmic description of these circuits. This article shows how many aspects of the anatomy and physiology of the circuit involving the cortex and basal ganglia are exactly those required to implement the computation defined by an asymptotically optimal statistical test for decision making: the multihypothesis sequential probability ratio test (MSPRT). The resulting model of basal ganglia provides a new framework for understanding the computation in the basal ganglia during decision making in highly practiced tasks. The predictions of the theory concerning the properties of particular neuronal populations are validated in existing experimental data. Further, we show that this neurobiologically grounded implementation of MSPRT outperforms other candidates for neural decision making, that it is structurally and parametrically robust, and that it can accommodate cortical mechanisms for decision making in a way that complements those in basal ganglia.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. U. Forstmann, G. Dutilh, S. Brown, J. Neumann, D. Y. von Cramon, K. R. Ridderinkhof, and E.-J. Wagenmakers Striatum and pre-SMA facilitate decision-making under time pressure PNAS, November 11, 2008; 105(45): 17538 - 17542. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Yehene, N. Meiran, and N. Soroker Basal Ganglia Play a Unique Role in Task Switching within the Frontal-Subcortical Circuits: Evidence from Patients with Focal Lesions. J. Cogn. Neurosci., June 1, 2008; 20(6): 1079 - 1093. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Niwa and J. Ditterich Perceptual Decisions between Multiple Directions of Visual Motion J. Neurosci., April 23, 2008; 28(17): 4435 - 4445. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. J. Frank, J. Samanta, A. A. Moustafa, and S. J. Sherman Hold Your Horses: Impulsivity, Deep Brain Stimulation, and Medication in Parkinsonism Science, November 23, 2007; 318(5854): 1309 - 1312. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]