Mechanism of action selection and decision-making in the basal ganglia through a connectionist model approach
Charlotte Héricé
Team Mnémosyne / INRIA and Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives (IMN). Université de Bordeaux
The nervous system structures involved in decision making constitute a circuit formed by the basal ganglia, the cortex, the thalamus and their numerous interconnections. This circuit can be described as a set of loops operating in parallel and interacting at different points. The decisions and therefore the actions of an individual emerge from the interactions between these loops and the plasticity of their connections. These emerging behaviors and arising learning processes are addressed through a closed-loop approach in which the theoretical model is in constant interaction with the environment of the task. To this end, neural modeling and dedicated analysis software tools were developed in the laboratory. We explore here the dynamics of information flows within this circuit through a computational model described at the neuron and synapse level. Taking into account previous experimental observations from primates and earlier computational models, we incrementally developed a network capable of learning to perform behavioral tasks under several protocols and conditions. The result here is a computational model of learning and decision making in the basal ganglia that allows for the testing of experimental hypotheses and also to conduct in silico pathophysiological or pharmacological investigations at the cellular level. The development of this computational model was conducted in parallel with the development of an experimental protocol of decision making and with the adjustment of a model of Parkinson disease in the salamander (Pleurodeles waltlii).
Publication
Decision-making under uncertainty in a spiking neural network model of the basal ganglia. C. Héricé, R. Khalil, M. Moftah, T. Boraud, M. Guthrie and A. Garenne. (Article accepté le 15/09/2016 pour publication dans the Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, December 2016).
Jury
- BEURTON-AIMAR Marie,
MC, Université de Bordeaux, Invité - CABELGUEN Jean-Marie,
PU Bordeaux, Invité - CHAUVET Pierre,
Professeur, UCO-LARIS Angers, Rapporteur, - DUBOIS Rémi,
MC, IHU LIRYC Pessac, Tuteur - GARENNE André,
MC, Université de Bordeaux, Directeur de thèse, - LE MASSON Gwendal,
PU, Université de Bordeaux, - WENDLING Fabrice
DR Université de Rennes 1, Rapporteur
PhD supervisor
André Garenne
Maître de conférence – PhD
Université de Bordeaux
Enseignant-Chercheur
Equipe : Mnemosyne: synergie mnémonique
– The focus of our research: At the frontier between integrative and computational neuroscience, we propose to model the brain as a system of active memories in synergy and in interaction with the internal and external world and to simulate it as a whole and in situation.