Overview
- Researchers recorded mice’s facial movements and brain activity simultaneously during a shifting-reward two-spout foraging task.
- Machine-learning analyses decoded internal decision variables from facial kinematics with information content on par with neural population recordings.
- Facial features reflected both active and unexpressed strategy variables, with components originating in secondary motor cortex.
- Consistent facial patterns corresponded to the same strategies across different animals, indicating stereotyped cognitive signatures.
- The authors present a non-invasive approach for studying brain function and urge consideration of regulations to protect mental privacy.