Effective brain connectivity at rest is associated with choice-induced preference formation

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Decision Science

Background:

• Making difficult decisions can lead to preference changes, a phenomenon known as choice-induced preference modification.
• Brain regions implicated include the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) for conflict detection, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) for value updating, and the hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) for value memory.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between resting-state neuronal activity in key brain regions and the magnitude of individual preference updates following hard choices.
• To explore the causal connectivity among brain areas involved in preference formation using dynamic causal modeling.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state fMRI data was acquired from participants.
• Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) in the spectral domain (spDCM) was employed to analyze effective connectivity.
• The study focused on connectivity between the ACC, dlPFC, hippocampus, and vmPFC.

Main Results:

• Diminished resting-state excitation between the left dlPFC and vmPFC was associated with greater choice-induced preference changes.
• Increased resting-state excitation from the ACC to the left hippocampus and vmPFC correlated with preference consistency.
• Resting-state network configurations predict the degree of preference updating after difficult decisions.

Conclusions:

• Resting-state neuronal activity and effective connectivity within a network including the dlPFC, ACC, vmPFC, and hippocampus are linked to preference stability or change.
• These findings suggest that intrinsic brain network dynamics play a role in how individuals solidify preferences after making hard choices.