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- Title
Dynamics Learning Rate Bias in Pigeons: Insights from Reinforcement Learning and Neural Correlates.
- Authors
Jin, Fuli; Yang, Lifang; Yang, Long; Li, Jiajia; Li, Mengmeng; Shang, Zhigang
- Abstract
Simple Summary: Our study investigated how pigeons learn and make decisions. We found that pigeons showed a tendency to learn differently from good and bad experiences similar to humans and other animals; a pattern we call learning rate bias. Initially, pigeons are cautious and tend to learn more from the negative outcomes. As they learn and gain experience, they start to become more optimistic, favoring learning from the positive outcomes. We observed these changes through behavioral models and the neural activity in the striatum, a brain region involved in reward and learning. The shift from a cautious to a more confident approach in their decision-making suggests that pigeons use a flexible strategy for learning, which changes as they gather more information about what to expect from their choices. Understanding these patterns can help us learn more about basic learning processes shared across different species. Research in reinforcement learning indicates that animals respond differently to positive and negative reward prediction errors, which can be calculated by assuming learning rate bias. Many studies have shown that humans and other animals have learning rate bias during learning, but it is unclear whether and how the bias changes throughout the entire learning process. Here, we recorded the behavior data and the local field potentials (LFPs) in the striatum of five pigeons performing a probabilistic learning task. Reinforcement learning models with and without learning rate biases were used to dynamically fit the pigeons' choice behavior and estimate the option values. Furthemore, the correlation between the striatal LFPs power and the model-estimated option values was explored. We found that the pigeons' learning rate bias shifted from negative to positive during the learning process, and the striatal Gamma (31 to 80 Hz) power correlated with the option values modulated by dynamic learning rate bias. In conclusion, our results support the hypothesis that pigeons employ a dynamic learning strategy in the learning process from both behavioral and neural aspects, providing valuable insights into reinforcement learning mechanisms of non-human animals.
- Subjects
REINFORCEMENT learning; PIGEONS; REWARD (Psychology); HUMAN behavior models; LEARNING; LEARNING strategies
- Publication
Animals (2076-2615), 2024, Vol 14, Issue 3, p489
- ISSN
2076-2615
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/ani14030489