Four core properties of the human brain valuation system demonstrated in intracranial signals

Estimating the value of alternative options is a key process in decision-making. Human functional magnetic resonance imaging and monkey electrophysiology studies have identified brain regions, such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC), composing a val...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature neuroscience 2020-05, Vol.23 (5), p.664-675
Main Authors: Lopez-Persem, Alizée, Bastin, Julien, Petton, Mathilde, Abitbol, Raphaëlle, Lehongre, Katia, Adam, Claude, Navarro, Vincent, Rheims, Sylvain, Kahane, Philippe, Domenech, Philippe, Pessiglione, Mathias
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Automation
Brain
Brain - physiology
Brain mapping
Choice (Psychology)
Choice Behavior - physiology
Decision making
EEG
Electric properties
Electrocorticography
Electroencephalography
Electrophysiology
Epilepsy
Female
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Humans
Life Sciences
Magnetic resonance imaging
Male
Measurement
Middle Aged
Neural coding
Neuroimaging
Neurons and Cognition
Physiological aspects
Prefrontal cortex
Properties (attributes)
Signal processing
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Summary:Estimating the value of alternative options is a key process in decision-making. Human functional magnetic resonance imaging and monkey electrophysiology studies have identified brain regions, such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC), composing a value system. In the present study, in an effort to bridge across species and techniques, we investigated the neural representation of value ratings in 36 people with epilepsy, using intracranial electroencephalography. We found that subjective value was positively reflected in both vmPFC and lOFC high-frequency activity, plus several other brain regions, including the hippocampus. We then demonstrated that subjective value could be decoded (1) in pre-stimulus activity, (2) for various categories of items, (3) even during a distractive task and (4) as both linear and quadratic signals (encoding both value and confidence). Thus, our findings specify key functional properties of neural value signals (anticipation, generality, automaticity, quadraticity), which might provide insights into human irrational choice behaviors.
ISSN:1097-6256
1546-1726
DOI:10.1038/s41593-020-0615-9