# Neural mechanisms of flexible visual-oculomotor decision rules

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2024 · $676,402

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Visual decision-making in the brain is thought to depend on two behaviorally distinguishable computational
components: one that converts uncertain visual inputs into a decision variable, and a second that applies a rule
to the decision variable to commit to a choice. Our long-term goal is to understand the neural mechanisms that
implement these computational components of high-order visual processing, which represent key building blocks
of cognition. Here we propose to examine where and how visual decision rules are implemented in the brain.
We build on three primary innovations: 1) a novel theoretical framework predicting that normative decision rules
tend not to be static, as prescribed in many commonly used decision models, but rather dynamic with flexible
adjustments both within and across decisions; 2) a novel task design that allows us to control the decision
variable and measure decision commitment directly for each decision; and 3) measurements and manipulations
of neural activity at multiple cortical and subcortical components of a key oculomotor pathway to assess their
relative contributions to implementing and updating flexible decision rules. We have three Specific Aims. Aim 1
is to characterize flexible decision rule use by monkeys. Aim 2 is to identify correlative relationships between
neural activity in the oculomotor pathway and decision rules on single trials. We targe the frontal eye field and
lateral intraparietal area of the cortex; the substantia nigra pars reticulata, which is a major output structure of
the oculomotor basal ganglia; and the superior colliculus, which receives input from the other three regions. Aim
3 is to identify causal relationships between neural activity in these brain regions and decision rules on single
trials. Results from the proposed project will provide new, theoretically motivated, and empirically grounded
insights into circuit mechanisms that control a major building block of deliberative information processing in the
brain: the rules that govern when and how to end the deliberations and commit to an action. These results will
help to provide a solid foundation for investigating cognitive impairments associated with dysfunction of the
cortico-basal ganglia pathway.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10978763
- **Project number:** 1R01EY034640-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** LONG DING
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $676,402
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-01 → 2029-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10978763

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10978763, Neural mechanisms of flexible visual-oculomotor decision rules (1R01EY034640-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10978763. Licensed CC0.

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