The why, what, where, when and how of goal-directed choice: neuronal and computational principles

Verschure, Paul F. M. J.; Pennartz, Cyriel; Pezzulo, Giovanni

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2013.0483

The why, what, where, when and how of goal-directed choice: neuronal and computational principles

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Verschure PFMJ, Pennartz CMA, Pezzulo G. The why, what, where, when and how of goal-directed choice: neuronal and computational principles. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2014 Nov 5;369(1655):20130483. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0483

Abstract

The central problems that goal-directed animals must solve are: ‘What do I need and Why, Where and When can this be obtained, and How do I get it?' or the H4W problem. Here, we elucidate the principles underlying the neuronal solutions to H4W using a combination of neurobiological and neurorobotic approaches. First, we analyse H4W from a system-level perspective by mapping its objectives onto the Distributed Adaptive Control embodied cognitive architecture which sees the generation of adaptive action in the real world as the primary task of the brain rather than optimally solving abstract problems. We next map this functional decomposition to the architecture of the rodent brain to test its consistency. Following this approach, we propose that the mammalian brain solves the H4W problem on the basis of multiple kinds of outcome predictions, integrating central representations of needs and drives (e.g. hypothalamus), valence (e.g. amygdala), world, self and task state spaces (e.g. neocortex, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, respectively) combined with multi-modal selection (e.g. basal ganglia). In our analysis, goal-directed behaviour results from a well-structured architecture in which goals are bootstrapped on the basis of predefined needs, valence and multiple learning, memory and planning mechanisms rather than being generated by a singular computation.