Testing models at the neural level reveals how the brain computes subjective value.

ABSTRACT: Decisions are based on the subjective values of choice options. However, subjective value is a theoretical construct and not directly observable. Strikingly, distinct theoretical models competing to explain how subjective values are assigned to choice options often make very similar behavioral predictions, which poses a major difficulty for establishing a mechanistic, biologically plausible explanation of decision-making based on behavior alone. Here, we demonstrate that model comparison at the neural level provides insights into model implementation during subjective value computation even though the distinct models parametrically identify common brain regions as computing subjective value. We show that frontal cortical regions implement a model based on the statistical distributions of a

SUBMITTER: Williams TB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8639327 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature