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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 1, 2025

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Published on: March 19, 2014

Separable Influences of Reward on Visual Processing and Choice.

Alireza Soltani¹, Mohsen Rakhshan¹, Robert J Schafer²

¹Dartmouth College.

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience

|November 9, 2020

Summary

Reward value influences primate visual processing and target selection differently. Subjective reward value impacts motion sensitivity and choice, but objective value only affects choice, revealing distinct neural circuits for reward integration.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Primate Vision
Decision Making

Background:

Primate vision involves continuous target selection.
Reward influences target processing and selection, but effects are not fully understood due to separate task measurements.

Purpose of the Study:

To simultaneously measure how reward outcomes and expected reward affect target selection and visual motion sensitivity in monkeys.
To investigate similarities and differences in reward effects on visual processing and choice behavior.

Main Methods:

Monkeys chose between two visual targets with probabilistic juice rewards.
Motion-induced bias in eye movements measured sensitivity to visual motion.
Reinforcement learning models estimated subjective reward values from reward history.

Main Results:

Subjective reward value influenced both choice and visual motion sensitivity.
Visual motion sensitivity was affected by subjective value, not objective value.
Choice depended on the difference in subjective values; motion sensitivity on the sum of values.

Conclusions:

Reward exerts separable influences on visual processing and choice behavior.
Multiple brain circuits likely mediate the integration of reward outcomes for different functions.