Abstract
When choosing between two options, correlates of their value are represented in neural activity throughout the brain. Whether these representations reflect activity that is fundamental to the computational process of value comparison, as opposed to other computations covarying with value, is unknown. We investigated activity in a biophysically plausible network model that transforms inputs relating to value into categorical choices. A set of characteristic time-varying signals emerged that reflect value comparison. We tested these model predictions using magnetoencephalography data recorded from human subjects performing value-guided decisions. Parietal and prefrontal signals matched closely with model predictions. These results provide a mechanistic explanation of neural signals recorded during value-guided choice and a means of distinguishing computational roles of different cortical regions whose activity covaries with value.
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Acknowledgements
We thank V. Litvak and G. Barnes for many helpful discussions, C. Stagg and K. Friston for comments on the manuscript, T. Nichols for assistance implementing four-dimensional cluster-based permutation testing, and S. Braeutigam and A. Rao for help with data collection. This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (L.T.H., N.K., M.W.W. and T.E.J.B., grant reference numbers WT088312 and WT080540), the Consortium Of Neuroimagers for Non-invasive Exploration of Brain Connectivity and Tracts (CONNECT; L.T.H. and T.E.J.B.), the UK Medical Research Council (M.F.S.R.) and the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (M.W.W.). The project CONNECT acknowledges the financial support of the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) program in the Seventh Framework Program for Research of the European Commission, under FET-Open grant number 238292.
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L.T.H., T.E.J.B. and M.F.S.R. designed experiment. L.T.H. and N.K. collected data. A.S. and L.T.H. built models and analyzed model predictions. M.W.W. wrote code for source reconstruction. L.T.H., T.E.J.B., N.K. and M.W.W. analyzed data. L.T.H., M.F.S.R. and T.E.J.B. wrote the paper. All of the authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
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Supplementary Text and Figures
Supplementary Figures 1–13, Supplementary Tables 1–3 and Supplementary Discussion (PDF 1806 kb)
Supplementary Movie 1
Temporal evolution of stimulus-locked activity (MOV 4476 kb)
Supplementary Movie 2
Temporal evolution of response-locked activity (MOV 5726 kb)
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Hunt, L., Kolling, N., Soltani, A. et al. Mechanisms underlying cortical activity during value-guided choice. Nat Neurosci 15, 470–476 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3017
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3017
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