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Related Concept Videos

Decision Making01:20

Decision Making

Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive process that involves evaluating alternatives and selecting among them. This process can range from simple choices, such as deciding what to wear, to complex decisions, like choosing a major in college or a career path. The complexity of the decision often dictates the approach we use, which can be broadly categorized into two types: automatic and controlled decision-making.
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...
Reason and Intuition01:37

Reason and Intuition

The human brain processes information for decision-making using one of two routes: an intuitive system and a rational system (Epstein, 1994; popularized by Kahneman, 2011 as System 1 and System 2, respectively). The intuitive system is quick, impulsive, and operates with minimal effort, relying on emotions or habits to provide cues for what to do next, while the rational system is logical, analytical, deliberate, and methodical. Research in neuropsychology suggests that the brain can only use...
Decision Making: Traditional Method01:14

Decision Making: Traditional Method

The process of hypothesis testing based on the traditional method includes calculating the critical value, testing the value of the test statistic using the sample data, and interpreting these values.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is decided based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to this claim is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses, out of which a null hypothesis would be a...
Decision Making: P-value Method01:09

Decision Making: P-value Method

The process of hypothesis testing based on the P-value method includes calculating the P- value using the sample data and interpreting it.
First, a specific claim about the population parameter is proposed. The claim is based on the research question and is stated in a simple form. Further, an opposing statement to the claim  is also stated. These statements can act as null and alternative hypotheses:  a null hypothesis would be a neutral statement while the alternative hypothesis can have a...
Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex01:23

Somatosensory, Motor, and Association Cortex

The somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobes is crucial for interpreting sensory data such as touch, temperature, and proprioception. The somatosensory cortex, situated in the parietal lobes, plays a vital role in interpreting sensory information like touch, temperature, and proprioception—awareness of body position. This specialized brain region features an organized structure wherein neurons at the top primarily process sensations originating from the lower body. In contrast, those at the...
Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.

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Choice coding in frontal cortex during stimulus-guided or action-guided decision-making.

Chung-Hay Luk1, Jonathan D Wallis

  • 1Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-3190, USA.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|February 1, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) show a functional division in tracking environmental cues versus actions. Neurons in the OFC and ACC encode action choices, with stronger OFC activity for stimulus-outcome and stronger ACC activity for action-outcome associations.

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

  • Neuroscience
  • Decision-making
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Organisms must track stimulus-outcome (SO) and action-outcome (AO) associations for optimal decision-making.
  • Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) are involved in outcome tracking, with proposed dissociation: ACC for AO and OFC for SO.
  • Previous studies suggest a functional separation between ACC and OFC in processing different types of outcome associations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether the proposed dissociation between ACC and OFC in encoding AO and SO associations extends to the single neuron level.
  • To determine if specific neuronal populations within ACC and OFC differentially represent action-outcome versus stimulus-outcome learning.

Main Methods:

  • Trained two subjects on choice tasks specifically designed to elicit the use of either AO or SO associations.
  • Recorded single-neuron activity in the OFC and ACC during task performance.
  • Analyzed neuronal encoding of actions within the context of AO and SO tasks.

Main Results:

  • Neurons in both OFC and ACC encoded the specific action chosen by the subject.
  • Encoding of action choice was significantly stronger in the OFC during the stimulus-outcome (SO) task.
  • Encoding of action choice was significantly stronger in the ACC during the action-outcome (AO) task.

Conclusions:

  • The findings support a division of labor between OFC and ACC at the single neuron level.
  • OFC neurons are more involved in utilizing stimulus-outcome associations for decision-making.
  • ACC neurons are more involved in utilizing action-outcome associations for decision-making.