Basal ganglia

Neuroscience

Biology

Dopamine receptor D2

Ventral striatum

Economics

Computer science

Dopamine

Reinforcement learning

Psychology

Task (project management)

Management

Value (mathematics)

Action selection

Central nervous system

Direct pathway of movement

Artificial intelligence

Striatum

Perception

Indirect pathway of movement

Machine learning

eLife

The striatum is critically involved in value-based decision making. However, it is unclear how striatal direct and indirect pathways work together to make optimal choices in a dynamic and uncertain environment. Here, we examined the effects of selectively inactivating D1 receptor (D1R)- or D2 receptor (D2R)-expressing dorsal striatal neurons (corresponding to direct- and indirect-pathway neurons, respectively) on mouse choice behavior in a reversal task with progressively increasing reversal frequency and a dynamic two-armed bandit task. Inactivation of either D1R- or D2R-expressing striatal neurons impaired performance in both tasks, but the pattern of altered choice behavior differed between the two animal groups. A reinforcement learning model-based analysis indicated that inactivation of D1R- and D2R-expressing striatal neurons selectively impairs value-dependent action selection and value learning, respectively. Our results suggest differential contributions of striatal direct and indirect pathways to two distinct steps in value-based decision making.

Distinct roles of striatal direct and indirect pathways in value-based decision making