"Unraveling Brain Circuit Principles That Aid Instant Decision-Making"

A new brain circuit principle that aids human momentary decision-making in extreme situations has been identified.

The National Research Foundation of Korea announced on the 4th that Dr. Jeongjin Kim's research team at the Brain Science Research Institute of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has elucidated a new neural circuit and cellular mechanism between the cerebral cortex and thalamus that enables humans to select and execute a specific behavior among multiple behavioral options in threatening situations.

Provided by National Research Foundation of Korea

In extreme situations, rapid and correct decisions are directly linked to survival. For fast and accurate decisions, it is essential to integratively assess surrounding stimuli and situations within a short time while minimizing risks and maximizing benefits through complex decision-making.

However, previous studies have mostly focused on mechanisms regulating a single learned behavior, and relatively little is known about the mechanisms involved in conflicts between two or more abnormal behaviors, especially in selecting instinctive behaviors.

The joint research team, considering these conditions, focused on identifying factors that quickly determine the direction of a specific behavior when multiple choices are presented, revealing that the anterior cingulate cortex-thalamic nucleus circuit plays an important role in this process.

Using various advanced neuroscience techniques such as fiber photometry imaging, miniature deep brain photometry, and optogenetics, the team newly discovered neural coding methods related to decision-making and demonstrated that modulating the anterior cingulate cortex-thalamic nucleus circuit can alter the degree and direction of behavioral choice bias.

Dr. Kim Jeong-jin. Provided by the National Research Foundation of Korea

In particular, through transcriptome analysis, the research team identified neurotensin-expressing inhibitory neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex and revealed for the first time that these neurons regulate decision-making information output of the anterior cingulate cortex-thalamic nucleus circuit, thereby controlling behavioral bias.

This achievement is significant as it is the first to demonstrate the involvement of the anterior cingulate cortex-thalamic circuit in the decision-making process where rapid behavioral selection is required at the "moment of decision," providing a new mechanism to understand maladaptive behavioral bias symptoms frequently observed in brain disorders such as autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive-impulsive disorders.

Meanwhile, this research was conducted with support from the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea through the Mid-career Researcher Program and the Future Brain Convergence Technology Development Project. The research results were published on August 5 in the international life sciences journal Current Biology.

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