英国牛津大学Alessandro Bongioanni课题组在最新研究中，揭示了激活和中断猴子对新事物选择的神经机制。相关论文于2021年1月6日发表于国际学术期刊《自然》杂志。
研究人员发现灵长类内侧额叶皮层（MFC）参与了以前未经历过新选择的决定。猕猴通过与先前经历选择相似性的组成部分来自发推断出新选择的价值。功能磁共振成像（fMRI）表明这种能力是由MFC介导的，其在猴子中很少被研究。MFC活动反映了比较陌生的选择过程。在MFC中，对选项进行多维判断使用类似于网格细胞的编码方案（在空间导航中的功能众所周知），MFC在新决策过程中将维度集成到该非物理空间中。相比之下，眶额皮质则利用特定的基于对象的估值方法。此外，对MFC而非邻近组织进行微创超声处理破坏了对新选择值的估值。
据介绍，调控人和动物依据价值做出决策的神经机制引起了科学家的广泛关注。动物实验通常需要较长的训练时间。相比之下，现实世界中通常需要自发地在新选项之间做出抉择。因此，动物研究中的神经机制可能不同于人成像研究中典型新决定所需的神经机制。
附：英文原文
Title: Activation and disruption of a neural mechanism for novel choice in monkeys
Author: Alessandro Bongioanni, Davide Folloni, Lennart Verhagen, Jrme Sallet, Miriam C. Klein-Flgge, Matthew F. S. Rushworth
Issue&Volume: 2021-01-06
Abstract: Neural mechanisms that mediate the ability to make value-guided decisions have received substantial attention in humans and animals1,2,3,4,5,6. Experiments in animals typically involve long training periods. By contrast, choices in the real world often need to be made between new options spontaneously. It is therefore possible that the neural mechanisms targeted in animal studies differ from those required for new decisions, which are typical of human imaging studies. Here we show that the primate medial frontal cortex (MFC)7 is involved in making new inferential choices when the options have not been previously experienced. Macaques spontaneously inferred the values of new options via similarities with the component parts of previously encountered options. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) suggested that this ability was mediated by the MFC, which is rarely investigated in monkeys3; MFC activity reflected different processes of comparison for unfamiliar and familiar options. Multidimensional representations of options in the MFC used a coding scheme resembling that of grid cells, which is well known in spatial navigation8,9, to integrate dimensions in this non-physical space10 during novel decision-making. By contrast, the orbitofrontal cortex held specific object-based value representations1,11. In addition, minimally invasive ultrasonic disruption12 of MFC, but not adjacent tissue, altered the estimation of novel choice values.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03115-5
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03115-5
Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html
本期文章：《自然》：Online/在线发表
