AUTHOR=Hasz Brendan M. , Redish A. David 

TITLE=Deliberation and Procedural Automation on a Two-Step Task for Rats

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2018

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/integrative-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnint.2018.00030

DOI=10.3389/fnint.2018.00030

ISSN=1662-5145

ABSTRACT=Current theories suggest that decision-making arises from multiple systems.  Human studies dissociate model-based and model-free systems, while rodent studies dissociate deliberation and habit. However, the relationship between these constructs remains unresolved.  We adapted for rats a two-step task which has been used to dissociate model based from model-free decisions in humans.  We found that an uncertainty-based algorithm predicted rats' choices on the maze better than an algorithm with a constant weighting between systems, supporting theoretical work suggesting decision-making systems are more likely to be used when their valuation is less uncertain.  We also found that path stereotypy, a measure of behavioral consistency associated with procedural learning, was correlated with model-free certainty, while vicarious trial and error, a deliberative behavior, was increased during model-free uncertainty.