Decoding subjective decisions from orbitofrontal cortex.

ABSTRACT: When making a subjective choice, the brain must compute a value for each option and compare those values to make a decision. The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is critically involved in this process, but the neural mechanisms remain obscure, in part due to limitations in our ability to measure and control the internal deliberations that can alter the dynamics of the decision process. Here we tracked these dynamics by recovering temporally precise neural states from multidimensional data in OFC. During individual choices, OFC alternated between states associated with the value of two available options, with dynamics that predicted whether a subject would decide quickly or vacillate between the two alternatives. Ensembles of value-encoding neurons contributed to these states, with individual neu

SUBMITTER: Rich EL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4925198 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature