Brain Mechanisms of Embodied Decision-Making

International Journal of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering and Education. 2022. Vol. 10. No. 2. P. 163–171.

Yuri I. Alexandrov, Svarnik O., Rozhdestvin A., Grinchenko Y. V.

One of the ways to comprehend mental abilities of individuals is to examine their underlying neural processes
and mechanisms. To explore the role of cingulate cortical neurons in “mental rehearsal“ immediately before every trial of appetitive
instrumental task in well-trained animals, we analyzed recorded single-unit activity in relation to the task-relevant events during
task trials and during delay periods inside each trial in the same animals. The results showed that neuronal activity in the rabbit
posterior cingulate cortex during the delay consisted mostly of activity of those neurons which were specialized in relation to
this task, though the delay periods were not intended to remember previous events. The data indicated that these neuronal
groups are involved in the processes of unfolding planned future behavior. Sequences of neuronal events during the delay
period (i.e. during” covert behavior” phase), used for decision making, depended on the role of neuron in overt behavior. During
delay periods replays (or preplays) started with activity of very selective (“narrow selective”) neurons, specialized in relation
to concrete behavioral acts, but late in the delay included activity of such “broadly selective” neurons which might have been
related to movements similar in broad categories of behavior. Such results indicate that task-related neurons with different degree
of selectivity are all involved in overt and covert phase of experience actualization, which might imply that decision making in
rabbits is the embodied cognitive process.

Keywords: embodied cognition, decision making, posterior cingulate cortex, mental rehearsal