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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 19, 2026

Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance

Online Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation of Dorsomedial and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Cognition Decision Making, and Cognitive Dissonance

Published on: December 5, 2025

Decision making during the psychological refractory period.

Ariel Zylberberg¹, Brian Ouellette, Mariano Sigman

¹Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience, Physics Department, FCEyN UBA and IFIBA, Conicet, Pabellón 1, Ciudad Universitaria, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Current Biology : CB

|August 28, 2012

Summary

The human brain can process multiple decisions simultaneously, but with reduced efficiency during the psychological refractory period (PRP). This study reveals parallel processing capabilities and separable decision-making stages.

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Area of Science:

Cognitive Neuroscience
Psychology
Human Brain Function

Background:

The human brain, despite its parallel architecture, exhibits limitations in performing simultaneous tasks.
The psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm reveals interference when two stimuli requiring rapid responses are presented closely together.
Prior research suggested PRP reflects an inability to form multiple decisions concurrently, with sensory decisions relying on evidence accumulation.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the time-course of evidence accumulation during the PRP using a psychophysical reverse-correlation technique.
To determine if multiple decision processes can occur in parallel despite PRP limitations.
To explore the separability of sensory decision-making from motor response preparation.

Main Methods:

Utilized a psychophysical reverse-correlation technique to analyze evidence accumulation.
Measured the temporal dynamics of decision-making processes under PRP conditions.
Examined response times to sequentially presented stimuli.

Main Results:

Evidence accumulation was found to occur during the PRP, albeit with reduced efficiency.
Demonstrated that multiple decision processes can, in fact, occur in parallel.
Identified an additional delay in routing decisions to motor structures, distinct from evidence accumulation.

Conclusions:

The human brain possesses the capacity for parallel decision-making, challenging previous assumptions about PRP limitations.
Sensory decision-making and motor response preparation are separable processes.
The PRP involves both reduced efficiency in evidence accumulation and a delay in motor output routing.