A poorly understood brain region tracks the gap between expectations and reality
Adapting to changing situations requires people to continuously revise their expectations about what might happen next when new information becomes available. These expectations are believed to be represented by mental models that help the brain predict outcomes and plan future behavior.
Recent research published in Nature Neuroscience indicates that neurons in the claustrum, a brain region deep within the human brain, play a role in tracking uncertainty and prediction error during aversive learning. The study, conducted by researchers at Yale University and other institutions, involved single-neuron recordings from seven patients with epilepsy who were asked to play a computer game simulating navigating a spaceship through asteroid belts.
As the participants revised their expectations to avoid collisions, neurons in the claustrum and anterior cingulate cortex showed distinct, task-related responses, suggesting they track higher-order cognitive variables. The claustrum displayed activity primarily during the active-avoidance phase, while neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex encoded uncertainty-related signals between trials and during the avoidance phase.
The findings suggest that the claustrum could be involved in updating expectations based on new information, but further research is needed to confirm this role.
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