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The role of attention in multi attribute decision making
Aaron L Sampson1, You-Ping Yang1,2,3, Marius Usher4
1Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Nature Communications
|November 29, 2025
Summary
Attention guides complex decisions by enhancing neural representations of chosen options and their values. This research reveals how the brain prioritizes information during multi-attribute decision-making.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Decision Science
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Real-life decisions often involve multiple options with various attributes influencing overall value.
- Sequential attention shifts to options and attributes are hypothesized to guide complex decision-making processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural mechanisms by which attention influences decision-making.
- To examine how attention modulates neural activity in the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) during multi-attribute decisions.
Main Methods:
- Monitored neural signals in pre-SMA neurons of macaques during a task involving multi-attribute decisions.
- Recorded neuronal activity while participants made choices between options with varying attributes.
Main Results:
- Attention enhances neural activity for the currently selected option, irrespective of its value, without fully inhibiting other options.
- Attention increases the gain of information integration toward the estimated value of the attended option.
- No evidence was found for a mechanism where only the attended option is represented.
Conclusions:
- Attention modulates parallel information accumulation and competition in decision circuits.
- Neural gain modulation by attention strengthens value information processing during complex choices.
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