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Microstimulation of macaque area LIP affects decision-making in a motion discrimination task

Nature Neuroscience volume 9, pages 682–689 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

A central goal of cognitive neuroscience is to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying decision-making. Recent physiological studies suggest that neurons in association areas may be involved in this process. To test this, we measured the effects of electrical microstimulation in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) while monkeys performed a reaction-time motion discrimination task with a saccadic response. In each experiment, we identified a cluster of LIP cells with overlapping response fields (RFs) and sustained activity during memory-guided saccades. Microstimulation of this cluster caused an increase in the proportion of choices toward the RF of the stimulated neurons. Choices toward the stimulated RF were faster with microstimulation, while choices in the opposite direction were slower. Microstimulation never directly evoked saccades, nor did it change reaction times in a simple saccade task. These results demonstrate that the discharge of LIP neurons is causally related to decision formation in the discrimination task.

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Figure 1: Experimental design.
Figure 2: Microstimulation in LIP affects both decisions and reaction times.
Figure 3: Effects of LIP microstimulation are evident during individual experiments.
Figure 4: Microstimulation in MT and LIP have different effects on decisions and reaction times.
Figure 5: Microstimulation of LIP and MT affect the decision process at different points.
Figure 6: Predicted magnitude of effects of LIP microstimulation on choice and reaction time.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Huk, M. Mazurek and W. Newsome for helpful discussion on all aspects of this project; S. Allred, A. Churchland, R. Kiani, J. Palmer and T. Yang for comments on this manuscript and useful suggestions; and M. Mihali, J. McNulty and V.K. Skypeck for technical assistance. This study was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and the National Eye Institute. T.D.H. is also supported by an HHMI predoctoral fellowship.

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Affiliations

  1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Primate Research Center, and Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195, Washington, USA

    Timothy D Hanks, Jochen Ditterich & Michael N Shadlen

  2. Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, 95616, California, USA

    Jochen Ditterich

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  1. Timothy D Hanks
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Correspondence to Michael N Shadlen.

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Hanks, T., Ditterich, J. & Shadlen, M. Microstimulation of macaque area LIP affects decision-making in a motion discrimination task. Nat Neurosci 9, 682–689 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1683

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