De Berker, AO;
Kurth-Nelson, Z;
Rutledge, RB;
Bestmann, S;
Dolan, R;
(2018)
Computing value from quality and quantity in human decision making.
The Journal of Neuroscience
, 39
(1)
pp. 163-176.
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0706-18.2018.
Preview |
Text
Rutledge VoR 163.full.pdf Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
How organisms learn the value of single stimuli through experience is well described. In many decisions, however, value estimates are computed 'on the fly', by combining multiple stimulus attributes. The neural basis of this computation is poorly understood. Here we explore a common scenario in which decision-makers must combine information about quality and quantity to determine the best option. Using fMRI, we examined the neural representation of quality, quantity, and their integration into an integrated subjective value signal in humans of both genders. We found that activity within Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG) correlated with offer quality, whilst activity in the Intra Parietal Sulcus (IPS) specifically correlated with offer quantity. Several brain regions, including the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC), were sensitive to an interaction of quality and quantity. However, the ACC was uniquely activated by quality, quantity, and their interaction, suggesting this region provides a substrate for flexible computation of value from both quality and quantity. Furthermore, ACC signals across subjects correlated with the strength of quality and quantity signals in IFG and IPS respectively. ACC tracking of subjective value also correlated with choice predictability. Finally, activity in the ACC was elevated for choice trials, suggesting that ACC provides a nexus for the computation of subjective value in multi-attribute decision making.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTWould you prefer 3 apples or 2 oranges? Many choices we make each day require us to weigh up the quality and quantity of different outcomes. Using fMRI, we show that option quality is selectively represented in the Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG), whilst option quantity correlates with areas of the Intra Parietal Sulcus (IPS) which have previously been associated with numerical processing. We show that information about the two is integrated into a value signal in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC), and the fidelity of this integration predicts choice predictability. Our results demonstrate how on-the-fly value estimates are computed from multiple attributes in human value-based decision making.
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
