Investigation into the neural and computational bases of decision-making has proceeded in two parallel but distinct streams. Perceptual decision-making (PDM) is concerned with how observers detect, discriminate, and categorize noisy sensory information. Economic decision-making (EDM) explores how options are selected on the basis of their reinforcement history. Traditionally, the sub-fields of PDM and EDM have employed different paradigms, proposed different mechanistic models, explored different brain regions, disagreed about whether decisions approach optimality. Nevertheless, we argue that there is a common framework for understanding decisions made in both tasks, under which an agent has to combine sensory information (what is the stimulus) with value information (what is it worth). We review computational models of the decision process typically used in PDM, based around the idea that decisions involve a serial integration of evidence, and assess their applicability to decisions between good and gambles. Subsequently, we consider the contribution of three key brain regions – the parietal cortex, the basal ganglia, and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) – to perceptual and EDM, with a focus on the mechanisms by which sensory and reward information are integrated during choice. We find that although the parietal cortex is often implicated in the integration of sensory evidence, there is evidence for its role in encoding the expected value of a decision. Similarly, although much research has emphasized the role of the striatum and OFC in value-guided choices, they may play an important role in categorization of perceptual information. In conclusion, we consider how findings from the two fields might be brought together, in order to move toward a general framework for understanding decision-making in humans and other primates.
Building Bridges between Perceptual and Economic Decision-Making: Neural and Computational Mechanisms
Published 2012 in Frontiers in Neuroscience
ABSTRACT
PUBLICATION RECORD
- Publication year
2012
- Venue
Frontiers in Neuroscience
- Publication date
2012-05-24
- Fields of study
Medicine, Computer Science, Economics
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
CITATION MAP
EXTRACTION MAP
CLAIMS
CONCEPTS
- basal ganglia
A subcortical brain system considered here in relation to action selection and value-guided choice.
Aliases: striatum
- economic decision-making
Decision-making that selects among options using their learned value or reinforcement history.
Aliases: EDM
- evidence integration
A process in which information is accumulated over time to support a decision.
Aliases: serial integration, accumulation of evidence
- expected value
The anticipated worth of an option given available information and prior outcomes.
Aliases: EV
- orbitofrontal cortex
A prefrontal brain region considered here in relation to evaluating options and guiding choice.
Aliases: OFC
- parietal cortex
A cortical brain region examined here for its role in integrating evidence and representing decision variables.
- perceptual decision-making
Decision-making that relies on detecting, discriminating, or categorizing noisy sensory input.
Aliases: PDM
- sensory information
Information about the stimulus derived from sensory input and used to guide choice.
Aliases: stimulus information
- value information
Information about how rewarding or worthwhile an option is based on past outcomes or reinforcement history.
Aliases: reward information