Decoding mouse behavior to explain single-trial decisions and their relationship with neural activity.

Models of behavior typically focus on sparse measurements of motor output over long timescales, limiting their ability to explain momentary decisions or neural activity. We developed data-driven models relating experimental variables to videos of behavior. Applied to mouse operant behavior, they revealed behavioral encoding of cognitive variables. Model-based decoding of videos yielded an accurate account of single-trial behavior in terms of the relationship between cognition, motor output and cortical activity.