A Computational Model of Parallel Navigation Systems
in Rodents
Ricardo Chavarriaga, Thomas Strösslin, Denis
Sheynikhovich and Wulfram Gerstner (2005)
Abstract
Several studies in rats support the idea of multiple
neural systems competing to select the best action for
reaching a goal or food location. Locale navigation strategies,
necessary for reaching invisible goals, seem to be mediated by the
hippocampus and the ventral and dorsomedial striatum whereas taxon
strategies, applied for approaching goals in the visual field, are
believed to involve the dorsolateral striatum. A computational
model of action selection is presented, where different experts,
implementing locale and taxon strategies, compete in order to select
the appropriate behavior for the current task. The model was tested
in a simulated robot and its performance in an experimental paradigm
which dissociates the use of cue and spatial information is compared
to the behavior observed in animals.