Sex differences in learning from exploration
- University of Minnesota, United States
- Princeton University, United States
Abstract
Sex-based modulation of cognitive processes could set the stage for individual differences in vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders. While value-based decision making processes in particular have been proposed to be influenced by sex differences, the overall correct performance in decision making tasks often show variable or minimal differences across sexes. Computational tools allow us to uncover latent variables that define different decision making approaches, even in animals with similar correct performance. Here, we quantify sex differences in mice in the latent variables underlying behavior in a classic value-based decision making task: a restless 2-armed bandit. While male and female mice had similar accuracy, they achieved this performance via different patterns of exploration. Male mice tended to make more exploratory choices overall, largely because they appeared to get 'stuck' in exploration once they had started. Female mice tended to explore less but learned more quickly during exploration. Together, these results suggest that sex exerts stronger influences on decision making during periods of learning and exploration than during stable choices. Exploration during decision making is altered in people diagnosed with addictions, depression, and neurodevelopmental disabilities, pinpointing the neural mechanisms of exploration as a highly translational avenue for conferring sex-modulated vulnerability to neuropsychiatric diagnoses.
Data availability
All behavioral data have been deposited in generic database (Dyrad) with accession link https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.z612jm6c0
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Sex differences in learning from explorationDryad Digital Repository, doi:10.5061/dryad.z612jm6c0.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Institutes of Health (R01MH123661)
- Nicola Grissom
National Institutes of Health (P50MH119569)
- Nicola Grissom
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
- R Becket Ebitz
Mistletoe Foundation
- R Becket Ebitz
Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé
- R Becket Ebitz
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health. All of the animals were handled according to approved institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) protocols (#1912-37717A) of the University of Minnesota.
Copyright
© 2021, Chen et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Sex differences in learning from exploration
eLife 10:e69748.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69748
