Foraging with the frontal cortex: A cross-species evaluation of reward-guided behavior

Abstract

Efficient foraging is essential to survival and depends on frontal cortex in mammals. Because of its role in psychiatric disorders, frontal cortex and its contributions to reward procurement have been studied extensively in both rodents and non-human primates. How frontal cortex of these animal models compares is a source of intense debate. Here we argue that translating findings from rodents to non-human primates requires an appreciation of both the niche in which each animal forages as well as the similarities in frontal cortex anatomy and function. Consequently, we highlight similarities and differences in behavior and anatomy, before focusing on points of convergence in how parts of frontal cortex contribute to distinct aspects of foraging in rats and macaques, more specifically. In doing so, our aim is to emphasize where translation of frontal cortex function between species is clearer, where there is divergence, and where future work should focus. We finish by highlighting aspects of foraging for which have received less attention but we believe are critical to uncovering how frontal cortex promotes survival in each species.

Whole-brain comparison of rodent and human brains using spatial transcriptomics

“…Although the human brain is much larger than the mouse brain and contains a number of cortical territories that have no homologue in the mouse brain (42,43 ), the similarity in transcriptomic signature mean that translations between the species is valid in many contexts.…”

“…Indeed, this speaks to the different types of similarity that can be studied, depending on which aspect of brain organization one is interested in. Although the human brain is much larger than the mouse brain and contains a number of cortical territories that have no homologue in the mouse brain (42, 43) , the similarity in transcriptomic signature mean that translations between the species is valid in many contexts.…”

Synthetic Spatial Foraging With Active Inference in a Geocaching Task

“…This species-dependent characteristic of foraging becomes immediately evident if we consider the sub-processes involved, most of which are usually attributed to the prefrontal cortex in humans and primates ( Rudebeck and Izquierdo, 2021 ). These sub-processes include evaluation (such as value-based decision making), prediction, and action (such as learning about uncertainty, action selection, patch-leaving problems, and matching) and social cognition ( Rudebeck and Izquierdo, 2021 ). In recent years, complementary work in neuroscience (especially in the field of human and primate decision making) and ethology has appealed to a more holistic understanding of decision making in light of core (information) foraging processes.…”

“…The ability to find food in the environment is conserved across species, although this is expressed in different ways depending on the specific species-and can take particularly abstract and complex forms in humans. This species-dependent characteristic of foraging becomes immediately evident if we consider the sub-processes involved, most of which are usually attributed to the prefrontal cortex in humans and primates (Rudebeck and Izquierdo, 2021). These sub-processes include evaluation (such as value-based decision making), prediction, and action (such as learning about uncertainty, action selection, patchleaving problems, and matching) and social cognition (Rudebeck and Izquierdo, 2021).…”

Choosing memory retrieval strategies: A critical role for inhibition in the dentate gyrus

“…Together with cingulate cortical areas, they also process cue- and spatial-related information such as the position of landmarks or of the own position in space. By forming a network with the hippocampus and striatum, prefrontal and cingulate cortical areas mediate choosing spatial or cue-based response strategies when navigating to a reward ( Cowen et al, 2012 ; Kennerley et al, 2006 ; Rich and Shapiro, 2009 ; Rudebeck and Izquierdo, 2022 ).…”