Data & Code for "Distinct representations of economic variables across region and projections of the frontal cortex" by Majumdar, Ashcroft, Fritsche et al, Neuron 2025

Economic decision-making requires evaluating information about available options, such as their expected value and economic risk. Previous studies have shown that frontal cortical neurons encode these variables, but how this encoding is structured across different frontal regions and projection pathways remains unclear. We developed a decision-making task for head-fixed mice in which we varied the expected value and risk associated with reward-predicting stimuli. Using large-scale electrophysiology, two-photon imaging and projection-specific optotagging across multiple frontal regions, we identified distinct spatial gradients for these variables, with stronger expected value coding in dorsal regions and stronger risk coding in medial regions. We then demonstrated that this encoding further depends on neuronal projections: frontal neurons projecting to the dorsomedial striatum and claustrum differentially encoded economic variables. Our findings illustrate that frontal cortical representation of economic variables is jointly determined by spatial organization and downstream connectivity of neurons, revealing a structured, multi-scale code for economic variables.

经济决策需对可选方案的相关信息进行评估，例如其预期价值与经济风险。既往研究表明，额叶皮层神经元（frontal cortical neurons）可编码此类变量，但该编码在不同额叶区域与投射通路中的组织模式仍尚未明确。我们构建了一款适配头固定小鼠（head-fixed mice）的决策任务，通过该任务可精准调控与奖赏预测性刺激绑定的预期价值与风险。借助跨多个额叶区域的大规模电生理记录（large-scale electrophysiology）、双光子成像（two-photon imaging）以及投射特异性光标记（projection-specific optotagging）技术，我们发现此类变量的编码呈现独特的空间梯度：背侧脑区对预期价值的编码强度更高，内侧脑区则对风险的编码更为显著。随后我们证实，此类编码还依赖神经元的投射特性：投射至背内侧纹状体（dorsomedial striatum）与屏状体（claustrum）的额叶神经元，会差异化地编码各类经济变量。本研究表明，额叶皮层对经济变量的表征由脑区空间组织与神经元的下游连接共同决定，揭示了经济变量的结构化多尺度编码机制。