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Hippocampal damage disrupts the latent decision-making processes underlying approach-avoidance conflict processing in
Willem Le Duc1, Christopher R Butler2,3, Georgios P D Argyropoulos4
1Department of Psychological Clinical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
Plos Biology
|February 11, 2025
Summary
The hippocampus is crucial for navigating approach-avoidance conflict (AAC). Damage impairs decision-making, leading to more approach behavior when faced with conflicting rewards and punishments.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Decision Science
Background:
- The hippocampus is implicated in approach-avoidance conflict (AAC), where stimuli signal both reward and punishment.
- Its specific role in the decision-making processes during AAC remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the hippocampus's contribution to decision-making during AAC.
- To assess how hippocampal damage affects the arbitration of conflicting motivational values.
Main Methods:
- A computerized AAC paradigm was used with participants with and without hippocampal damage.
- Participants learned stimulus-reward/punishment associations and then chose to approach or avoid stimulus pairs.
- Hierarchical drift diffusion modeling analyzed choice and response data.
Main Results:
- Individuals with hippocampal damage showed a greater tendency to approach conflict pairs compared to controls.
- Hippocampal damage led to a bias towards approach, reduced evidence accumulation for avoidance, and faster decisions during conflict.
- No group differences were observed in learning, accuracy, or response time on conflict tasks.
Conclusions:
- The hippocampus is vital for evidence accumulation in value-based decision-making under motivational conflict.
- Hippocampal function supports the controlled processing of competing approach and avoidance motivations.
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