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Neural signatures underlying deliberation in human foraging decisions
Samantha V Abram1,2, Michael Hanke3,4, A David Redish5
1Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience
|June 19, 2019
Summary
Humans use mental time travel for decision-making, especially in foraging choices. This study reveals cross-species parallels in deliberation and neural encoding of value following regret.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Decision Science
Background:
- Humans possess advanced mental time travel abilities, crucial for evaluating future possibilities and making informed decisions.
- Foraging decisions, a common human choice, involve weighing immediate offers against potential future outcomes.
- Understanding the neural basis of these decisions is key to comprehending complex cognitive functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate human deliberation in foraging decisions using a translational paradigm.
- To explore cross-species parallels in decision-making processes between humans and rats.
- To identify neural correlates of decision-making, particularly in response to regret.
Main Methods:
- A translational decision-making paradigm was employed to assess human foraging preferences.
- Response times and neural activity (prefrontal and hippocampal) were monitored during decision-making tasks.
- fMRI was used to analyze neural representations in visual cortices following specific choice outcomes.
Main Results:
- Humans exhibited deliberation in foraging decisions, similar to rats, with increased response times near preference boundaries.
- Prefrontal and hippocampal activation correlated with difficult decisions, indicating shared neural mechanisms for deliberation.
- Visual cortices encoded representations of options after regretful experiences, suggesting a role in learning from past rejections.
Conclusions:
- Human foraging decisions involve a deliberative process with neural underpinnings shared across species.
- Regret plays a significant role in shaping neural representations and future decision-making.
- The study highlights the intricate relationship between mental time travel, decision evaluation, and neural processing.
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