Quentin Chevy

The paper investigates how cortical circuits enable region-specific credit assignment in reinforcement learning by analyzing the role of VIP and SST interneurons and cholinergic signals.

The paper shows reward and punishment rapidly activate VIP interneurons across the cortex in mice during learning.

Cholinergic basal forebrain neurons and cortical acetylcholine release encode an unsigned, valence-free reinforcement prediction error that tracks learning alongside dopamine via shared upstream circuits.