Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29712967›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2018

Place preference and vocal learning rely on distinct reinforcers in songbirds.

Don Murdoch, Ruidong Chen, Jesse H Goldberg

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Don MurdochDepartment of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
Ruidong ChenDepartment of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0163-979X
Jesse H GoldbergDepartment of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA. jesse.goldberg@cornell.edu.

Funding

Neural Mechanisms of Performance Evaluation During Motor Sequence LearningR01NS094667 · NINDS · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · PI GOLDBERG, JESSE HEYMANN · 2015 to 2024
$3.5M
NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS094667
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In reinforcement learning (RL) agents are typically tasked with maximizing a single objective function such as reward. But it remains poorly understood how agents might pursue distinct objectives at once. In machines, multiobjective RL can be achieved by dividing a single agent into multiple sub-agents, each of which is shaped by agent-specific reinforcement, but it remains unknown if animals adopt this strategy. Here we use songbirds to test if navigation and singing, two behaviors with distinct objectives, can be differentially reinforced. We demonstrate that strobe flashes aversively condition place preference but not song syllables. Brief noise bursts aversively condition song syllables but positively reinforce place preference. Thus distinct behavior-generating systems, or agencies, within a single animal can be shaped by correspondingly distinct reinforcement signals. Our findings suggest that spatially segregated vocal circuits can solve a credit assignment problem associated with multiobjective learning.

Indexed as

AnimalsBasal GangliaFinchesLearningMaleNeural PathwaysSongbirdsVocalization, Animal

Identifiers

PMID29712967
PMCPMC5928228

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.