Brain hemispheres selectively track the expected value of contralateral options.

Area of Science:

• Neuroeconomics
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Decision Science

Background:

• Binary choice situations are central to economic decision-making.
• Classical models assume valuation, comparison, and selection of options.
• Neural correlates of option values are known in animals, but human brain representation remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how the human brain represents expected values of two distinct options.
• To determine if option values are integrated in a single brain center or distributed.
• To explore the neural basis of value-based decision-making.

Main Methods:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine brain activity.
• Participants learned probabilistic monetary rewards associated with visual cues.
• Computational modeling fitted learning curves based on reward prediction errors.

Main Results:

• Left and right option values were specifically expressed in the contralateral ventral prefrontal cortex during learning.
• This representation was independent of the hand used for the choice.
• Evidence supports a distributed neural representation of expected values.

Conclusions:

• Expected values of options are not integrated into a single brain center.
• The human brain represents option values in a distributed manner.
• Neural representation respects the topography of brain systems activated by options.