Fast-starts in hunting fish: decision-making in small networks of identified neurons

Decision-making networks must be tuned according to the rules that govern which action will be rewarded for a given constellation of current sensory information. Somehow these rules must be implemented in the networks that translate the sensory cues to actions but the nature of this representation is enigmatic. Recent findings suggest that Mauthner-associated networks in some fish can govern surprisingly sophisticated and plastic decisions in which the rules of prey motion govern what speed and direction must be selected to be at the right point at the right time. With the key cellular players individually identifiable, fish can help us to discover the nature of how rules are represented in decision-making circuitry of the vertebrate brain.

► A key problem in decision-making is how prior information tunes decision-circuits. ► Neuroethology contributes excellent models to address this at the cellular level. ► Fish can select nuanced fast-starts to reach goals they must infer from rules. ► The tuning of these decisions can be dissected at the level of identified neurons.