Barron, A.B., Gurney, K.N., Meah, L.F.S. et al. (2 more authors) (2015) Decision-making and action selection in insects: inspiration from vertebrate-based theories. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 9. 216. ISSN 1662-5153
Abstract
Effective decision-making, one of the most crucial functions of the brain, entails the analysis of sensory information and the selection of appropriate behavior in response to stimuli. Here, we consider the current state of knowledge on the mechanisms of decision-making and action selection in the insect brain, with emphasis on the olfactory processing system. Theoretical and computational models of decision-making emphasize the importance of using inhibitory connections to couple evidence-accumulating pathways; this coupling allows for effective discrimination between competing alternatives and thus enables a decision maker to reach a stable unitary decision. Theory also shows that the coupling of pathways can be implemented using a variety of different mechanisms and vastly improves the performance of decision-making systems. The vertebrate basal ganglia appear to resolve stable action selection by being a point of convergence for multiple excitatory and inhibitory inputs such that only one possible response is selected and all other alternatives are suppressed. Similar principles appear to operate within the insect brain. The insect lateral protocerebrum (LP) serves as a point of convergence for multiple excitatory and inhibitory channels of olfactory information to effect stable decision and action selection, at least for olfactory information. The LP is a rather understudied region of the insect brain, yet this premotor region may be key to effective resolution of action section. We argue that it may be beneficial to use models developed to explore the operation of the vertebrate brain as inspiration when considering action selection in the invertebrate domain. Such an approach may facilitate the proposal of new hypotheses and furthermore frame experimental studies for how decision-making and action selection might be achieved in insects.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 Barron, Gurney, Meah, Vasilaki and Marshall. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution and reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
Keywords: | mushroom body; protocerebral calycal tract; leaky competing accumulator model; cross inhibition; parallel inhibition; mutual inhibition; basal ganglia; lateral protocerebrum |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Psychology (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 28 Sep 2015 15:24 |
Last Modified: | 28 Sep 2015 15:24 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00216 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Frontiers |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00216 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:89697 |