A Biophysically Based Neural Model of Matching Law Behavior: Melioration by Stochastic Synapses

Neuronal activity of two selective populations of decision-making network model, in sample trials. The population firing rate of neurons is shown separately for trials in which the choice of the network is the preferred (red) or nonpreferred (blue) target of the neurons. Raster plots show spike trains for two selected neurons in populations A and B. The left panels show activity in trials in which target A is the choice of the network, and the right panels show activity in trials in which target B is the choice of the network. Activity is aligned at the onset of the visual targets. A few hundred milliseconds after the input onset, the average firing rates in the two populations start to diverge. Spiking activity is higher when the chosen target is preferred for the neuron (compare red with blue traces) and when its input is larger (compare red traces in the left and right panels). Moreover, firing activity is higher when the chosen target is nonpreferred for the neuron that receives a larger input (compare blue traces in the left and right panels). In these simulations, the synaptic strengths are c_A = 0.33 and c_B = 0.27.