# Corticostriatal contributions to evidence evaluation and decision selection

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · 2021 · $393,021

## Abstract

Project Summary
A defining feature of cognitive flexibility is the ability to exert control over how information is
treated when acting upon it. This is important for decision making, which often involves
evaluating information from one's surroundings to select appropriate choices. Corticostriatal
circuits have been suggested to play critical roles in these decision processes, but their exact
contributions remain unresolved. Our long-term goal is to understand how corticostriatal circuits
contribute to flexible control of evidence evaluation and decision selection. Studies in rodents
have identified the frontal orienting field (FOF) in the cortex and the anterior dorsal striatum
(ADS) to which it projects as playing important roles in evidence evaluation and decision
selection. However, little is known about how this circuit controls the timescale of evidence
evaluation that guides decision selection, which is important for any situation where evidence is
acquired sequentially in time. Building on previous work, our overarching hypothesis is that the
ADS plays a role in controlling the period of influence of evidence on choices and that the FOF
plays a role in decision selection that is guided by information routed via the ADS. Here, we train
rats to perform a novel change detection task that we have developed to address these
questions. In Aim 1, we will identify contributions of the ADS to control the timescales of
evidence evaluation. We will use a combination of neural recordings and optogenetic
perturbation to study neural representations and associated circuit mechanisms. In Aim 2, we
will identify contributions of the FOF to free response decision selection with a parallel approach
as Aim 1, again combining neural recordings and optogenetic perturbations. In Aim 3, we will
measure the influence of the ADS and FOF on each other with simultaneous neural recordings
to inform mechanistic models of corticostriatal circuit contributions to evidence evaluation and
decision selection. The approach we take is innovative because the lab has developed novel
techniques, important refinements of cutting edge techniques, and extensions of established
techniques to previously unexplored questions. The contribution of this work is significant
because it will fill multiple major gaps in our knowledge about this critically important function
and clinically relevant circuit. Furthermore, because corticostriatal circuits and the functions
studied here are impacted by multiple brain disorders, an improved understanding of the
connection between the two will be useful for developing new mental health treatments and
avoiding side effects of treatments targeted to these brain circuits.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10296114
- **Project number:** 1R01MH124818-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Timothy D. Hanks
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $393,021
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10296114

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10296114, Corticostriatal contributions to evidence evaluation and decision selection (1R01MH124818-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10296114. Licensed CC0.

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