Economic Choices under Simultaneous or Sequential Offers Rely on the Same Neural Circuit

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Decision Science
• Primate Neurophysiology

Background:

• Economic choices are thought to be implemented by neural circuits in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).
• Previous studies primarily examined simultaneous offers, leaving generalization to sequential offers uncertain.
• Understanding OFC function in sequential choice is crucial for real-world decision-making scenarios.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether the neural circuits identified in the OFC for simultaneous offers also apply to sequential offers.
• To directly compare neuronal activity in the OFC during simultaneous versus sequential choice tasks.

Main Methods:

• Recorded neuronal activity in the primate orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) while monkeys made choices between juices.
• Interleaved trials with simultaneous and sequential offer presentations within the same experimental sessions.
• Classified neuronal responses based on choice modality and examined the correspondence between classifications.

Main Results:

• Identified distinct neuronal groups in the OFC encoding offer value, choice outcome, and chosen value for both presentation types.
• Found a strong correspondence between cell groups identified under simultaneous and sequential offer conditions.
• Demonstrated that the same neural circuit supports economic choices regardless of whether offers are simultaneous or sequential.

Conclusions:

• The neural circuit in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) for economic decision-making is consistent across simultaneous and sequential offer presentations.
• These findings indicate that established notions of OFC decision circuits generalize to sequential choice scenarios.
• The same fundamental neural mechanisms underlie economic choices in both simultaneous and sequential contexts.