ArticleeLife2021
Lapses in perceptual decisions reflect exploration.
Article in eLife, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers.
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Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed.
- Regulation of the decision threshold by the locus coeruleus.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Attention modulates value normalization in human reinforcement learning by shaping reward encoding.Nature communications · 2026Article
- EthoPy provides an accessible platform for reproducible behavioral neuroscience.Cell reports methods · 2026Article
- Reassessing Choice Probability: What 59 Macaque Studies Tell Us About Decision-Related Activity in Visual Cortex.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Neural and Behavioral Correlates of Evidence Accumulation in Human Click-Based Echolocation.eNeuro · 2026Article
- Anterior cingulate neurons combine outcome monitoring of past decisions with ongoing movement signals.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Parietal cortex is causally required for state-dependent decisions.Cell reports · 2025Article
- Pupil size predicts exploration through critical slowing in prefrontal dynamics.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Noisy Memory Generates Value in Changing Environments.Adaptive behavior · 2025Article
- Brain-wide coordination of internal signals during decision-making.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Seeing what you hear: Compression of rat visual perceptual space by task-irrelevant sounds.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Internal states emerge early during learning of a perceptual decision-making task.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Parietal cortex is causally required for state-dependent decisions.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Primary auditory cortex is necessary for the acquisition and expression of categorical behavior.Current biology : CB · 2025Article
- Pupil size predicts the onset of exploration and changes in prefrontal dynamics.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Stimulus uncertainty and relative reward rates determine adaptive responding in perceptual decision-making.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Frontal noradrenergic and cholinergic transients exhibit distinct spatiotemporal dynamics during competitive decision-making.Science advances · 2025Article
- Unraveling the complexity of rat object vision requires a full convolutional network and beyond.Patterns (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Perceptual decision-makers often display a constant rate of errors independent of evidence strength. These 'lapses' are treated as a nuisance arising from noise tangential to the decision, e.g. inattention or motor errors. Here, we use a multisensory decision task in rats to demonstrate that these explanations cannot account for lapses' stimulus dependence. We propose a novel explanation: lapses reflect a strategic trade-off between exploiting known rewarding actions and exploring uncertain ones. We tested this model's predictions by selectively manipulating one action's reward magnitude or probability. As uniquely predicted by this model, changes were restricted to lapses associated with that action. Finally, we show that lapses are a powerful tool for assigning decision-related computations to neural structures based on disruption experiments (here, posterior striatum and secondary motor cortex). These results suggest that lapses reflect an integral component of decision-making and are informative about action values in normal and disrupted brain states.
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Registered trials
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.