June Image Contest

Description: Created in Adobe Fresco. An anthropomorphized mouse stockbroker stands among two distinct stock market dynamics (line graphs and candlestick charts): one volatile (left) and the other stable (right). These environments symbolize the brain’s ability to make a decision using either recent reward history in dynamic environments or information integrated across a longer timescale in stable environments. Reward from positive choice outcomes illustrated as status-associated adornments such as jewelry and formal attire. Zhang et al. demonstrate that the flexible properties of neuronal tau within the Retrosplenial cortex enable the brain to adapt and shift between either decision-making strategy.