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Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice
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Economic choices can be made using only stimulus values.

Klaus Wunderlich1, Antonio Rangel, John P O'Doherty

  • 1Wellcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom. kwunder@caltech.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|August 11, 2010
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The brain can make choices based on stimulus value before considering actions. This decision neuroscience study shows value signals in the brain precede action-specific computations.

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Area of Science:

  • Decision neuroscience
  • Cognitive neuroscience
  • Neuroeconomics

Background:

  • Decision-making involves choosing between stimuli, each linked to a physical action.
  • Current theories debate whether the brain values goods or actions first.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if the brain computes choices in 'goods space' or 'action space'.
  • To explore the neural basis of value-based decision-making.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in human subjects.
  • Subjects chose between stimuli with and without prior knowledge of associated actions.

Main Results:

  • Neural correlates of chosen stimulus value were found in ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
  • These value signals appeared before stimulus-action pairings were revealed.

Conclusions:

  • The brain can assign value to stimuli independently of actions.
  • Supports the hypothesis of choice computation in 'goods space' prior to action planning.