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New research by neuroscientists at the University of Chicago shows that the posterior parietal cortex, an area of the brain often associated with movement planning and spatial awareness, also plays a crucial role in decision-making regarding images in the field of view.
"Traditionally, it was thought that this part of the brain was involved in the control of spatial attention and in the planning of actions. The attention paid to the role played by this region of the brain in the treatment of visual stimuli has been less considered, "said David Freedman, professor of neuroscience at UChicago and lead author of the study, published this week in Science. "Here we have been able to show that it plays an important role in understanding the things we see, perhaps even more than planning your next action or directing your attention."
Yang Zhou, freedman and postdoctoral researcher, taught the monkeys to play a simple computer game in which they reported their decisions regarding different types of images displayed on a computer screen by moving their eyes towards a designated target. For example, if the animals had a pattern of points moving up and to the left, they were supposed to move their eyes towards a green dot. If the points move in the opposite direction, they must move their eyes to a red dot.
For the new study, the researchers tested whether a specific region of the posterior parietal cortex called lateral intraparietal area was directly involved in decision making. They administered the animals a drug that temporarily interrupted neuronal activity in the intraparietal area later, then they asked the monkeys to perform the same tasks. While the drug was active, the decisions of the monkeys regarding the visual patterns observed were altered; once the drug is gone, their decisions are back to normal.
The researchers also recorded activity in the same pool of neurons once the drug was worn out and found that this activity in this region of the brain was indeed highly correlated with the same types of decisions that had been altered during the experiments.
Understand how the brain interprets what we see
The results provide a new context to help understand why a study conducted in 2016 by another group of Nature reported that deactivation of parts of the lateral intraparietal region did not appear to have an impact on decision-making. This study focused only on the role of the intraparietal side region in motor planning, such as the decision to look left or right. On the other hand, the present study shows that LIP is more involved in understanding the visual images that the subjects are watching, rather than in the decision of the actions to be undertaken later.
"All the neural data we examined in our past experiences gave us the impression that this region of the brain was involved in processing the meaning of visual images during decision-making," said Freedman, neuroscientist of choice. plan, which studies the mechanisms by which brains are transformed. adapt to their environments. "Now, we actually find that when we temporarily stop activity in this part of the brain, it actually affects the sensory parts of the decisions."
Freedman said the new study offers neuroscientists an opportunity to rethink the brain mechanisms involved in decision making, visual categorization, and sensory and motor treatments. The work could also lead to a deeper understanding of how the brain interprets the things we see in order to make decisions. Understanding this process in detail will be critical to developing new treatments for diseases and brain disorders that affect decision-making.
"These results show that the parietal cortex of the brain is an important center for guiding decisions. We are therefore even more motivated to go ahead and try to determine the details of the neural circuits in this part of the brain that perform these cognitive processes. functions, "he said.
-Story appeared for the first time on the website of the University of Chicago Medicine.
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