Economides, M; Guitart-Masip, M; Kurth-Nelson, Z; Dolan, RJ; (2015) Arbitration between controlled and impulsive choices. Neuroimage , 109 206 - 216. 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.12.071.

Preview

Text 1-s2.0-S1053811914010775-main.pdf Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The impulse to act for immediate reward often conflicts with more deliberate evaluations that support long-term benefit. The neural architecture that negotiates this conflict remains unclear. One account proposes a single neural circuit that evaluates both immediate and delayed outcomes, while another outlines separate impulsive and patient systems that compete for behavioral control. Here we designed a task in which a complex payout structure divorces the immediate value of acting from the overall long-term value, within the same outcome modality. Using model-based fMRI in humans, we demonstrate separate neural representations of immediate and long-term values, with the former tracked in the anterior caudate (AC) and the latter in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Crucially, when subjects' choices were compatible with long-run consequences, value signals in AC were down-weighted and those in vmPFC were enhanced, while the opposite occurred when choice was impulsive. Thus, our data implicate a trade-off in value representation between AC and vmPFC as underlying controlled versus impulsive choice.

Download activity - last month

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as XMLCSVJSON

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Archive Staff Only

View Item