Persistence, AI learning, and mouse first aid strategies

Your new Strategy Toolkit newsletter (March 25, 2025)

(1) Salvador Dali was right about persistence being neural…

To the delight of strategists everywhere, researchers at University College London believe they have identified a set of neurons responsible for behavioural strategies such as persistence. It’s only a matter of time before scientists explore how to manipulate those MRN neurons…

“To survive in dynamic environments with uncertain resources, animals must adapt their behaviour flexibly, choosing strategies such as persevering with a current choice, exploring alternatives or disengaging altogether. Previous studies have mainly investigated how forebrain regions represent choice costs and values as well as optimal strategies during such decisions. However, the neural mechanisms by which the brain implements alternative behavioural strategies such as persevering, exploring or disengaging remain poorly understood. Here we identify a neural hub that is critical for flexible switching between behavioural strategies, the median raphe nucleus (MRN).”*

* Ahmadlou, M., Shirazi, M.Y., Zhang, P. et al. A subcortical switchboard for perseverative, exploratory and disengaged states. Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08672-1