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MEASURING BELIEFS AND REWARDS: A NEUROECONOMIC APPROACH
Andrew Caplin1, Mark Dean1, Paul W Glimcher1
1Andrew Caplin, and Paul Glimcher, Department of Economics, New York University, 19 West 4th Street, New York, New York 10012. Paul Glimcher and Robb Rutledge, Center for Neural Science, New York University, 4 Washington Place, Room 809, New York, NY 10003. Mark Dean, Department of Economics, Brown University, Robinson Hall, 64 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02912.
The Quarterly Journal of Economics
|July 15, 2014
Summary
Dopamine may encode reward prediction errors, influencing choices and beliefs. This study provides the first formal test, finding separate signals for gains and losses in the nucleus accumbens.
Area of Science:
- Neuroeconomics
- Neuroscience
- Decision Science
Background:
- Dopamine, a neurotransmitter, is crucial in neuroeconomics.
- It's hypothesized to signal reward prediction errors, influencing beliefs and choices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To formally test the theory of dopaminergic function in reward prediction.
- To investigate if nucleus accumbens activity reflects separate positive and negative reward prediction errors.
Main Methods:
- Developed the first formal test of the dopamine reward prediction error theory.
- Analyzed neural activity in the nucleus accumbens, a dopamine-rich area.
Main Results:
- Neural activity in the nucleus accumbens satisfied the formal tests for reward prediction error.
- Evidence found for distinct positive and negative reward prediction error signals.
Conclusions:
- Findings support dopamine's role in encoding reward prediction errors.
- Behavioral asymmetries in gains and losses may mirror nucleus accumbens activity patterns.
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