Model-based choices involve prospective neural activity.

ABSTRACT: Decisions may arise via 'model-free' repetition of previously reinforced actions or by 'model-based' evaluation, which is widely thought to follow from prospective anticipation of action consequences using a learned map or model. While choices and neural correlates of decision variables sometimes reflect knowledge of their consequences, it remains unclear whether this actually arises from prospective evaluation. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a sequential reward-learning task in which paths contained decodable object categories, we found that humans' model-based choices were associated with neural signatures of future paths observed at decision time, suggesting a prospective mechanism for choice. Prospection also covaried with the degree of model-based influences on neural

SUBMITTER: Doll BB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4414826 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature