Temporal division of the decision-making process: An EEG study

Space-CNN: a decision classification method based on EEG signals from different brain regions

Decision-making plays a critical role in an individual's interpersonal interactions and cognitive processes. Due to the issue of strong subjectivity in the classification research of art design decisions, we utilize the relatively objective electroencephalogram (EEG) to explore design decision problems. However, different regions of the brain do not have the same influence on the design decision classification, so this paper proposes a spatial feature based convolutional neural network (space-CNN) to explore the problem of decision classification of EEG signals from different regions. We recruit 16 subjects to collect their EEG data while viewing four stimulation patterns. After noise reduction of the raw data by discrete wavelet transform (DWT), the EEG image is generated by combining it with the spatial features of the EEG signal, which is used as the input of CNN. Our experimental results show that the degree of influence of different brain regions on decision-making is parietal lobe > frontal lobe > occipital lobe > temporal lobe. In addition, the average accuracy of space-CNN reaches 86.13%, which is about 6% higher than similar studies.

Effects of emotional congruency and task complexity on decision-making

The heuristic approach to decision-making holds that the selection process becomes more efficient when part of the information available is ignored. One element involved in selecting information is emotional valence. If emotional congruency is related to simplified decision-making strategies, then the interaction of this factor with task complexity should exist. The present study explored how factors of this nature influence decision-making efficiency. We hypothesized that emotional congruency would have a positive effect on task execution and that the magnitude of that effect would increase with greater task complexity because in that condition the amount of information to be processed is greater, meaning that a heuristic approach to the problem would be more efficient. We design a decision in browser decision-making task in which participants had to select emotional images to gain points. Depending on the correlation between emotional valence and in-task image value, we defined three emotional congruency conditions: direct, null, and inverse. Our results show that distinct types of emotional congruency have differential effects on behavior. While direct congruency-enhanced overall decision-making performance, inverse congruency interacted with task complexity to modify the pace at which task feedback affected behavior.

Effect of reward and punishment on no-risk decision-making in young men: an EEG study

Decision-making is a process that allows adapting behavior in response to feedback to achieve a goal. Previous studies have suggested that the cerebral cortex shows different activation patterns in response to feedback. However, the effects of reward and punishment on learning contexts and decision-making are not clear. Thus, this experiment compared the effects of reward and punishment on behavior and the electroencephalographic activity of cortical areas related to decision-making in a no-risk context. Twenty healthy males were asked to perform a decision-making task under two conditions in which the goal was to finish in the shortest time possible. In the reward condition, the more points the participant accumulated the sooner the task ended, while in the punishment condition, the more points accumulated the longer the task lasted. Lower reaction times were found in the reward condition, characterized by a higher absolute power of the slow bands in almost all the cortices recorded. Changes in the interhemispheric correlation were also obtained in the comparison of the two feedback conditions. Results suggest that changes in the type of feedback affect cortical functionality and behavioral execution during decision-making, with the reward being related to a quick emotional response strategy and punishment associated with slower and, likely, more reasoned responses.