Rats use memory confidence to guide decisions

Joo, Hannah R.; Liang, Hexin; Chung, Jason E.; Geaghan-Breiner, Charlotte; Fan, Jiang Lan; Nachman, Benjamin P.; Kepecs, Adam; Frank, Loren M.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.013

Title: Rats use memory confidence to guide decisions

Journal Article · 01 September 2021 · Current Biology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.013 · OSTI ID:1906813

Joo, Hannah R. ^[1]; Liang, Hexin ^[2]; Chung, Jason E. ^[1]; Geaghan-Breiner, Charlotte ^[1]; Fan, Jiang Lan ^[3]; Nachman, Benjamin P. ^[4]; Kepecs, Adam ^[5]; Frank, Loren M. ^[1]

Univ. of California, San Francisco, CA (United States)
Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States). School of Medicine
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States). School of Medicine

Memory enables access to past experiences to guide future behavior. Humans can determine which memories to trust (high confidence) and which to doubt (low confidence). How memory retrieval, memory confidence, and memory-guided decisions are related, however, is not understood. In particular, how confidence in memories is used in decision making is unknown. We developed a spatial memory task in which rats were incentivized to gamble their time: betting more following a correct choice yielded greater reward. Rat behavior reflected memory confidence, with higher temporal bets following correct choices. We applied machine learning to identify a memory decision variable and built a generative model of memories evolving over time that accurately predicted both choices and confidence reports. Our results reveal in rats an ability thought to exist exclusively in primates and introduce a unified model of memory dynamics, retrieval, choice, and confidence.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS); National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH); National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1906813

Journal Information:: Current Biology, Journal Name: Current Biology Journal Issue: 20 Vol. 31; ISSN 0960-9822

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
behavior
confidence
decision making
deep neural network
machine learning
memory
metamemory
rat
spatial memory

Title: Rats use memory confidence to guide decisions

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