Models, movements, and minds: bridging the gap between decision making and action.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Decision-making research is divided between value-based and action-based models.
• Models differ on whether decisions precede or evolve with action specification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize computational models, behavioral findings, and neural recordings on decision making.
• To propose a unified framework for understanding decision making and action processing.

Main Methods:

• Review of computational models.
• Analysis of behavioral experimental findings.
• Examination of neural recording results.

Main Results:

• Decision making is a continuous, graded, and distributed process.
• This process spans from option presentation through movement completion.

Conclusions:

• Decision making is best understood as an integrated process of value and action.
• Understanding this link is crucial for complex goal-directed behaviors, including social communication.