Cortical activity correlates of binary decision-making have been well-described in nonhuman primates (NHP), were cortical neurons display ramping activity that may reflect integration of evidence for choice alternatives. In rats, medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been shown important for spatial decision-making tasks, when coordination with the hippocampus may enable integration of spatial information coded by place cells into frontal cortical processing. The hippocampus itself is implicated in decision-making and planning future actions by virtue of place cell sequences of non-local representations that can be predictive of future behaviour. During this phenomenon, the animal's head often orients towards and switches between potential options, as rats appear to consider the alternatives in a process described as vicarious trial and error (VTE). This thesis employs analyses of simultaneously recorded prelimbic cortex (PrL) and hippocampal population activity to characterise of this circuitry of spatial decision-making using a framework analogous to that used in NHP perceptual decision-making studies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:691168 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Jahans-Price, Thomas Matthew |
| Publisher | University of Bristol |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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