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Kim JC, Hellrung L, Grueschow M, Nebe S, Nagy Z, Tobler PN. Neural Representation of Valenced and Generic Probability and Uncertainty. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e0195242024. [PMID: 38866483 PMCID: PMC11270512 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0195-24.2024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2024] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Representing the probability and uncertainty of outcomes facilitates adaptive behavior by allowing organisms to prepare in advance and devote attention to relevant events. Probability and uncertainty are often studied only for valenced (appetitive or aversive) outcomes, raising the question of whether the identified neural machinery also processes the probability and uncertainty of motivationally neutral outcomes. Here, we aimed to dissociate valenced from valence-independent (i.e., generic) probability (p; maximum at p = 1) and uncertainty (maximum at p = 0.5) signals using human neuroimaging. In a Pavlovian task (n = 41; 19 females), different cues predicted appetitive, aversive, or neutral liquids with different probabilities (p = 0, p = 0.5, p = 1). Cue-elicited motor responses accelerated, and pupil sizes increased primarily for cues that predicted valenced liquids with higher probability. For neutral liquids, uncertainty rather than probability tended to accelerate cue-induced responding and decrease pupil size. At the neural level, generic uncertainty signals were limited to the occipital cortex, while generic probability also activated the anterior ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These generic probability and uncertainty signals contrasted with cue-induced responses that only encoded the probability and uncertainty of valenced liquids in medial prefrontal, insular, and occipital cortices. Our findings show a behavioral and neural dissociation of generic and valenced signals. Thus, some parts of the brain keep track of motivational charge while others do not, highlighting the need and usefulness of characterizing the exact nature of learned representations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jae-Chang Kim
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lydia Hellrung
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marcus Grueschow
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Stephan Nebe
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Zoltan Nagy
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Philippe N Tobler
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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2
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Kaliuzhna M, Carruzzo F, Kuenzi N, Tobler PN, Kirschner M, Geffen T, Katthagen T, Böge K, Zierhut MM, Schlagenhauf F, Kaiser S. Adaptive coding of reward in schizophrenia, its change over time and relationship to apathy. Brain 2024; 147:2459-2470. [PMID: 38608149 PMCID: PMC11224610 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awae112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 03/16/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Adaptive coding of reward is the process by which neurons adapt their response to the context of available compensations. Higher rewards lead to a stronger brain response, but the increase of the response depends on the range of available rewards. A steeper increase is observed in a narrow range and a more gradual slope in a wider range. In schizophrenia, adaptive coding appears to be affected in different domains, especially in the reward domain. Here, we tested adaptive coding of reward in a large group of patients with schizophrenia (n = 86) and control subjects (n = 66). We assessed: (i) the association between adaptive coding deficits and symptoms; (ii) the longitudinal stability of deficits (the same task was performed 3 months apart); and (iii) the stability of results between two experimental sites. We used functional MRI and the monetary incentive delay task to assess adaptation of participants to two different reward ranges: a narrow range and a wide range. We used a region-of-interest analysis to evaluate adaptation within striatal and visual regions. Patients and control subjects underwent a full demographic and clinical assessment. We found reduced adaptive coding in patients, with a decreased slope in the narrow reward range with respect to that of control participants, in striatal but not visual regions. This pattern was observed at both research sites. Upon retesting, patients increased their narrow-range slopes, showing improved adaptive coding, whereas control subjects slightly reduced them. At retesting, patients with overly steep slopes in the narrow range also showed higher levels of negative symptoms. Our data confirm deficits in reward adaptation in schizophrenia and reveal an effect of practice in patients, leading to improvement, with steeper slopes upon retesting. However, in some patients, an excessively steep slope may result in poor discriminability of larger rewards, owing to early saturation of the brain response. Together, the loss of precision of reward representation in new (first exposure, underadaptation) and more familiar (retest, overadaptation) situations might contribute to the multiple motivational symptoms in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariia Kaliuzhna
- Clinical and Experimental Psychopathology Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Fabien Carruzzo
- Clinical and Experimental Psychopathology Laboratory, Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Noémie Kuenzi
- Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Philippe N Tobler
- Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, 8006 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Kirschner
- Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Tal Geffen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Teresa Katthagen
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Kerem Böge
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Marco M Zierhut
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Florian Schlagenhauf
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Stefan Kaiser
- Department of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
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Kim AJ, Senior J, Chu S, Mather M. Aging impairs reactive attentional control but not proactive distractor inhibition. J Exp Psychol Gen 2024; 153:1938-1959. [PMID: 38780565 PMCID: PMC11250690 DOI: 10.1037/xge0001602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Older adults tend to be more prone to distraction compared with young adults, and this age-related deficit has been attributed to a deficiency in inhibitory processing. However, recent findings challenge the notion that aging leads to global impairments in inhibition. To reconcile these mixed findings, we investigated how aging modulates multiple mechanisms of attentional control by tracking the timing and direction of eye movements. When engaged in feature-search mode and proactive distractor suppression, older adults made fewer first fixations to the target but inhibited the task-irrelevant salient distractor as effectively as did young adults. However, when engaged in singleton-search mode and required to reactively disengage from the distractor, older adults made significantly more first saccades toward the task-irrelevant salient distractor and showed increased fixation times in orienting to the target, longer dwell times on incorrect saccades, and increased saccadic reaction times compared with young adults. Our findings reveal that aging differently impairs attentional control depending on whether visual search requires proactive distractor suppression or reactive distractor disengagement. Furthermore, our oculomotor measures reveal both age-related deficits and age equivalence in various mechanisms of attention, including goal-directed orienting, selection history, disengagement, and distractor inhibition. These findings help explain why conclusions of age-related declines or age equivalence in mechanisms of attentional control are task specific and reveal that older adults do not exhibit global impairments in mechanisms of inhibition. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy Jeesu Kim
- School of Gerontology, University of Southern California
| | - Joshua Senior
- School of Gerontology, University of Southern California
| | - Sonali Chu
- School of Gerontology, University of Southern California
| | - Mara Mather
- School of Gerontology, University of Southern California
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Yan C, Yang W, Luo J, Tang F, Liu J. Neurofunctional changes related to methamphetamine and sexual cues in methamphetamine dependence from short- to long-term abstinence. Addict Biol 2024; 29:e13405. [PMID: 38837586 PMCID: PMC11150907 DOI: 10.1111/adb.13405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
AIMS Abuse of methamphetamine has aroused concern worldwide. Stimulant use and sexual behaviours have been linked in behavioural and epidemiological studies. Although methamphetamine-related neurofunctional differences are reported in previous studies, only few studies have examined neurofunctional changes related to methamphetamine and sexual cues in methamphetamine dependence from short- to long-term abstinence. METHODS Neurofunctional changes were measured using a cue-reactivity task involving methamphetamine, sexual, and neutral cues in 20 methamphetamine abusers who were evaluated after a short- (1 week to 3 months) and long-term (10-15 months) abstinence. RESULTS Five brain regions mainly involved in the occipital lobe and the parietal lobe were found with the group-by-condition interaction. Region-of-interest analyses found higher sexual-cue-related activation than other two activations in all five brain regions in the long-term methamphetamine abstinence group while no group differences were found. Negative relationships between motor impulsivity and methamphetamine- or sexual-cue-related activations in the left middle occipital gyrus, the superior parietal gyrus and the right angular gyrus were found. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggested that methamphetamine abstinence may change the neural response of methamphetamine abusers to methamphetamine and sexual cues, and the neurofunction of the five brain regions reported in this study may partly recover with long-term methamphetamine abstinence. Given the use and relapse of methamphetamine for sexual purposes, the findings of this study may have particular clinical relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cui Yan
- Department of RadiologySecond Xiangya Hospital of Central South UniversityChangshaChina
- Department of RadiologyThe First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yet‐sen UniversityGuangzhouChina
| | - Wenhan Yang
- Department of RadiologySecond Xiangya Hospital of Central South UniversityChangshaChina
| | - Jing Luo
- Department of RadiologyHunan Provincial People's Hospital (First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University)ChangshaChina
| | - Fei Tang
- Department of RadiologySecond Xiangya Hospital of Central South UniversityChangshaChina
| | - Jun Liu
- Department of RadiologySecond Xiangya Hospital of Central South UniversityChangshaChina
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Fuchs BA, Pearce AL, Rolls BJ, Wilson SJ, Rose EJ, Geier CF, Keller KL. Does 'portion size' matter? Brain responses to food and non-food cues presented in varying amounts. Appetite 2024; 196:107289. [PMID: 38423300 PMCID: PMC10948287 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Larger portions of food elicit greater intake than smaller portions of food, particularly when foods are high in energy density (kcal/g; ED). The neural mechanisms underlying this effect remain unclear. The present study used fMRI to assess brain activation to food (higher-ED, lower-ED) and non-food (office supplies) images presented in larger and smaller (i.e., age-appropriate) amounts in 61, 7-8-year-olds (29 male, 32 female) without obesity. Larger amounts of food increased activation in bilateral visual and right parahippocampal areas compared to smaller amounts; greater activation to food amount (larger > smaller) in this cluster was associated with smaller increases in food intake as portions increased. Activation to amount (larger > smaller) was stronger for food than office supplies in primary and secondary visual areas, but, for office supplies only, extended into bilateral parahippocampus, inferior parietal cortex, and additional visual areas (e.g., V7). Activation was greater for higher-vs. lower-ED food images in ventromedial prefrontal cortex for both larger and smaller amounts of food; however, this activation extended into left lateral orbital frontal cortex for smaller amounts only. Activation to food cues did not differ by familial risk for obesity. These results highlight potentially distinct neural pathways for encoding food energy content and quantity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bari A Fuchs
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Alaina L Pearce
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Barbara J Rolls
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Stephen J Wilson
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Emma Jane Rose
- Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Charles F Geier
- Human Development and Family Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Kathleen L Keller
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA; Department of Food Science, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
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Meyer KN, Hopfinger JB, Vidrascu EM, Boettiger CA, Robinson DL, Sheridan MA. From learned value to sustained bias: how reward conditioning changes attentional priority. Front Hum Neurosci 2024; 18:1354142. [PMID: 38689827 PMCID: PMC11059963 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2024.1354142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Attentional bias to reward-associated stimuli can occur even when it interferes with goal-driven behavior. One theory posits that dopaminergic signaling in the striatum during reward conditioning leads to changes in visual cortical and parietal representations of the stimulus used, and this, in turn, sustains attentional bias even when reward is discontinued. However, only a few studies have examined neural activity during both rewarded and unrewarded task phases. Methods In the current study, participants first completed a reward-conditioning phase, during which responses to certain stimuli were associated with monetary reward. These stimuli were then included as non-predictive cues in a spatial cueing task. Participants underwent functional brain imaging during both task phases. Results The results show that striatal activity during the learning phase predicted increased visual cortical and parietal activity and decreased ventro-medial prefrontal cortex activity in response to conditioned stimuli during the test. Striatal activity was also associated with anterior cingulate cortex activation when the reward-conditioned stimulus directed attention away from the target. Discussion Our findings suggest that striatal activity during reward conditioning predicts the degree to which reward history biases attention through learning-induced changes in visual and parietal activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin N. Meyer
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Joseph B. Hopfinger
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Elena M. Vidrascu
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Charlotte A. Boettiger
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Neuroscience Curriculum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Donita L. Robinson
- Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Neuroscience Curriculum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
| | - Margaret A. Sheridan
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
- Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
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7
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Anderson BA. Trichotomy revisited: A monolithic theory of attentional control. Vision Res 2024; 217:108366. [PMID: 38387262 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2024.108366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
The control of attention was long held to reflect the influence of two competing mechanisms of assigning priority, one goal-directed and the other stimulus-driven. Learning-dependent influences on the control of attention that could not be attributed to either of those two established mechanisms of control gave rise to the concept of selection history and a corresponding third mechanism of attentional control. The trichotomy framework that ensued has come to dominate theories of attentional control over the past decade, replacing the historical dichotomy. In this theoretical review, I readily affirm that distinctions between the influence of goals, salience, and selection history are substantive and meaningful, and that abandoning the dichotomy between goal-directed and stimulus-driven mechanisms of control was appropriate. I do, however, question whether a theoretical trichotomy is the right answer to the problem posed by selection history. If we reframe the influence of goals and selection history as different flavors of memory-dependent modulations of attentional priority and if we characterize the influence of salience as a consequence of insufficient competition from such memory-dependent sources of priority, it is possible to account for a wide range of attention-related phenomena with only one mechanism of control. The monolithic framework for the control of attention that I propose offers several concrete advantages over a trichotomy framework, which I explore here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian A Anderson
- Texas A&M University, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, 4235 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4235, United States.
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Jahn CI, Markov NT, Morea B, Daw ND, Ebitz RB, Buschman TJ. Learning attentional templates for value-based decision-making. Cell 2024; 187:1476-1489.e21. [PMID: 38401541 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.01.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Revised: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Attention filters sensory inputs to enhance task-relevant information. It is guided by an "attentional template" that represents the stimulus features that are currently relevant. To understand how the brain learns and uses templates, we trained monkeys to perform a visual search task that required them to repeatedly learn new attentional templates. Neural recordings found that templates were represented across the prefrontal and parietal cortex in a structured manner, such that perceptually neighboring templates had similar neural representations. When the task changed, a new attentional template was learned by incrementally shifting the template toward rewarded features. Finally, we found that attentional templates transformed stimulus features into a common value representation that allowed the same decision-making mechanisms to deploy attention, regardless of the identity of the template. Altogether, our results provide insight into the neural mechanisms by which the brain learns to control attention and how attention can be flexibly deployed across tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline I Jahn
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA.
| | - Nikola T Markov
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Britney Morea
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - Nathaniel D Daw
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA; Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
| | - R Becket Ebitz
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA; Department of Neurosciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
| | - Timothy J Buschman
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA; Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA.
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Farré-Colomés À, Tan H, Gerhardt S, Gerchen MF, Kirsch M, Hoffmann S, Kirsch P, Kiefer F, Vollstädt-Klein S. Cue-exposure treatment influences resting-state functional connectivity-a randomized controlled fMRI study in alcohol use disorder. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2024; 241:513-524. [PMID: 38261011 PMCID: PMC10884177 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-024-06531-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
RATIONALE Cue-exposure therapy (CET) consists of exposing patients to the cause of their affliction in a controlled environment and after psychological preparation. Ever since it was conceived, it has been suggested as a treatment for different types of behavioural impairments, from anxiety disorders to substance abuse. In the field of addictive behaviour, many different findings have been shown regarding the effectiveness of this therapy. OBJECTIVES This study aims to examine the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of the effects of CET in patients with alcohol use disorder using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). METHODS In a randomized, controlled study, we examined patients after inpatient detoxification as well as healthy controls. Patients underwent nine sessions of CET spaced over 3 weeks. Rs-fMRI was conducted before treatment and 3 weeks after treatment onset in patients, healthy controls received only one rs-fMRI measurement. The final participant sample with complete data included 35 patients in the CET group, 17 patients in the treatment-as-usual group, and 43 HCs. RESULTS Our results show differences in the Salience Network when comparing the CET group to the treatment-as-usual group (TAU). Functional connectivity between the anterior cingulate Cortex (ACC) and the insula was increased after CET, whereas it was decreased from ACC to the putamen and globus pallidus. Further, increased connectivity with the precuneus was found in the dorsal attention network after cue exposure treatment. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that cue exposure therapy changes the resting-state brain connectivity with additional effects to the standard psychotherapy treatment. Hence, our study results suggest why including CET in standard therapies might improve the preparation of patients in front of daily situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Àlvar Farré-Colomés
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Haoye Tan
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Sarah Gerhardt
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Martin Fungisai Gerchen
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg/Mannheim, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Heidelberg University, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Martina Kirsch
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Sabine Hoffmann
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Peter Kirsch
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Heidelberg/Mannheim, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
- Department of Psychology, Heidelberg University, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Falk Kiefer
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
- Mannheim Center for Translational Neurosciences (MCTN), Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany
- Feuerlein Center on Translational Addiction Medicine, Heidelberg University, 69117, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sabine Vollstädt-Klein
- Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
- Mannheim Center for Translational Neurosciences (MCTN), Medical Faculty of Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68159, Mannheim, Germany.
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10
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Yeon J, Larson AS, Rahnev D, D'Esposito M. Task learning is subserved by a domain-general brain network. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae013. [PMID: 38282457 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024] Open
Abstract
One of the most important human faculties is the ability to acquire not just new memories but the capacity to perform entirely new tasks. However, little is known about the brain mechanisms underlying the learning of novel tasks. Specifically, it is unclear to what extent learning of different tasks depends on domain-general and/or domain-specific brain mechanisms. Here human subjects (n = 45) learned to perform 6 new tasks while undergoing functional MRI. The different tasks required the engagement of perceptual, motor, and various cognitive processes related to attention, expectation, speed-accuracy tradeoff, and metacognition. We found that a bilateral frontoparietal network was more active during the initial compared with the later stages of task learning, and that this effect was stronger for task variants requiring more new learning. Critically, the same frontoparietal network was engaged by all 6 tasks, demonstrating its domain generality. Finally, although task learning decreased the overall activity in the frontoparietal network, it increased the connectivity strength between the different nodes of that network. These results demonstrate the existence of a domain-general brain network whose activity and connectivity reflect learning for a variety of new tasks, and thus may underlie the human capacity for acquiring new abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiwon Yeon
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, United States
- Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, United States
| | - Alina Sue Larson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 90564, United States
| | - Dobromir Rahnev
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, United States
| | - Mark D'Esposito
- Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
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11
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Danskin BP, Hattori R, Zhang YE, Babic Z, Aoi M, Komiyama T. Exponential history integration with diverse temporal scales in retrosplenial cortex supports hyperbolic behavior. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadj4897. [PMID: 38019904 PMCID: PMC10686558 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adj4897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Animals use past experience to guide future choices. The integration of experiences typically follows a hyperbolic, rather than exponential, decay pattern with a heavy tail for distant history. Hyperbolic integration affords sensitivity to both recent environmental dynamics and long-term trends. However, it is unknown how the brain implements hyperbolic integration. We found that mouse behavior in a foraging task showed hyperbolic decay of past experience, but the activity of cortical neurons showed exponential decay. We resolved this apparent mismatch by observing that cortical neurons encode history information with heterogeneous exponential time constants that vary across neurons. A model combining these diverse timescales recreated the heavy-tailed, hyperbolic history integration observed in behavior. In particular, the time constants of retrosplenial cortex (RSC) neurons best matched the behavior, and optogenetic inactivation of RSC uniquely reduced behavioral history dependence. These results indicate that behavior-relevant history information is maintained across multiple timescales in parallel and that RSC is a critical reservoir of information guiding decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bethanny P. Danskin
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Ryoma Hattori
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Yu E. Zhang
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Zeljana Babic
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Mikio Aoi
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Takaki Komiyama
- Department of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
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12
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Antono JE, Dang S, Auksztulewicz R, Pooresmaeili A. Distinct Patterns of Connectivity between Brain Regions Underlie the Intra-Modal and Cross-Modal Value-Driven Modulations of the Visual Cortex. J Neurosci 2023; 43:7361-7375. [PMID: 37684031 PMCID: PMC10621764 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0355-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Revised: 07/30/2023] [Accepted: 08/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Past reward associations may be signaled from different sensory modalities; however, it remains unclear how different types of reward-associated stimuli modulate sensory perception. In this human fMRI study (female and male participants), a visual target was simultaneously presented with either an intra- (visual) or a cross-modal (auditory) cue that was previously associated with rewards. We hypothesized that, depending on the sensory modality of the cues, distinct neural mechanisms underlie the value-driven modulation of visual processing. Using a multivariate approach, we confirmed that reward-associated cues enhanced the target representation in early visual areas and identified the brain valuation regions. Then, using an effective connectivity analysis, we tested three possible patterns of connectivity that could underlie the modulation of the visual cortex: a direct pathway from the frontal valuation areas to the visual areas, a mediated pathway through the attention-related areas, and a mediated pathway that additionally involved sensory association areas. We found evidence for the third model demonstrating that the reward-related information in both sensory modalities is communicated across the valuation and attention-related brain regions. Additionally, the superior temporal areas were recruited when reward was cued cross-modally. The strongest dissociation between the intra- and cross-modal reward-driven effects was observed at the level of the feedforward and feedback connections of the visual cortex estimated from the winning model. These results suggest that, in the presence of previously rewarded stimuli from different sensory modalities, a combination of domain-general and domain-specific mechanisms are recruited across the brain to adjust the visual perception.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Reward has a profound effect on perception, but it is not known whether shared or disparate mechanisms underlie the reward-driven effects across sensory modalities. In this human fMRI study, we examined the reward-driven modulation of the visual cortex by visual (intra-modal) and auditory (cross-modal) reward-associated cues. Using a model-based approach to identify the most plausible pattern of inter-regional effective connectivity, we found that higher-order areas involved in the valuation and attentional processing were recruited by both types of rewards. However, the pattern of connectivity between these areas and the early visual cortex was distinct between the intra- and cross-modal rewards. This evidence suggests that, to effectively adapt to the environment, reward signals may recruit both domain-general and domain-specific mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Emily Antono
- Perception and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute Goettingen-A Joint Initiative of the University Medical Center Goettingen and the Max-Planck-Society, Germany, Goettingen, 37077, Germany
| | - Shilpa Dang
- Perception and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute Goettingen-A Joint Initiative of the University Medical Center Goettingen and the Max-Planck-Society, Germany, Goettingen, 37077, Germany
- School of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, Karwar, Jodhpur 342030, India
| | - Ryszard Auksztulewicz
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Berlin, Free University Berlin, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - Arezoo Pooresmaeili
- Perception and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute Goettingen-A Joint Initiative of the University Medical Center Goettingen and the Max-Planck-Society, Germany, Goettingen, 37077, Germany
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13
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Allard S, Hussain Shuler MG. Cholinergic Reinforcement Signaling Is Impaired by Amyloidosis Prior to Its Synaptic Loss. J Neurosci 2023; 43:6988-7005. [PMID: 37648452 PMCID: PMC10586537 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0967-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with amyloidosis and dysfunction of the cholinergic system, which is crucial for learning and memory. However, the nature of acetylcholine signaling within regions of cholinergic-dependent plasticity and how it changes with experience is poorly understood, much less the impact of amyloidosis on this signaling. Therefore, we optically measure the release profile of acetylcholine to unexpected, predicted, and predictive events in visual cortex (VC)-a site of known cholinergic-dependent plasticity-in a preclinical mouse model of AD that develops amyloidosis. We find that acetylcholine exhibits reinforcement signaling qualities, reporting behaviorally relevant outcomes and displaying release profiles to predictive and predicted events that change as a consequence of experience. We identify three stages of amyloidosis occurring before the degeneration of cholinergic synapses within VC and observe that cholinergic responses in amyloid-bearing mice become impaired over these stages, diverging progressively from age- and sex-matched littermate controls. In particular, amyloidosis degrades the signaling of unexpected rewards and punishments, and attenuates the experience-dependent (1) increase of cholinergic responses to outcome predictive visual cues, and (2) decrease of cholinergic responses to predicted outcomes. Hyperactive spontaneous acetylcholine release occurring transiently at the onset of impaired cholinergic signaling is also observed, further implicating disrupted cholinergic activity as an early functional biomarker in AD. Our findings suggest that acetylcholine acts as a reinforcement signal that is impaired by amyloidosis before pathologic degeneration of the cholinergic system, providing a deeper understanding of the effects of amyloidosis on acetylcholine signaling and informing future interventions for AD.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The cholinergic system is especially vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of amyloidosis, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Though amyloid-induced cholinergic synaptic loss is thought in part to account for learning and memory impairments in AD, little is known regarding how amyloid impacts signaling of the cholinergic system before its anatomic degeneration. Optical measurement of acetylcholine (ACh) release in a mouse model of AD that develops amyloidosis reveals that ACh signals reinforcement and outcome prediction that is disrupted by amyloidosis before cholinergic degeneration. These observations have important scientific and clinical implications: they implicate ACh signaling as an early functional biomarker, provide a deeper understanding of the action of acetylcholine, and inform on when and how intervention may best ameliorate cognitive decline in AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Allard
- Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
| | - Marshall G Hussain Shuler
- Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205
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14
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Liao MR, Kim AJ, Anderson BA. Neural correlates of value-driven spatial orienting. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14321. [PMID: 37171022 PMCID: PMC10524674 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2022] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Reward learning has been shown to habitually guide overt spatial attention to specific regions of a scene. However, the neural mechanisms that support this bias are unknown. In the present study, participants learned to orient themselves to a particular quadrant of a scene (a high-value quadrant) to maximize monetary gains. This learning was scene-specific, with the high-value quadrant varying across different scenes. During a subsequent test phase, participants were faster at identifying a target if it appeared in the high-value quadrant (valid), and initial saccades were more likely to be made to the high-value quadrant. fMRI analyses during the test phase revealed learning-dependent priority signals in the caudate tail, superior colliculus, frontal eye field, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula, paralleling findings concerning feature-based, value-driven attention. In addition, ventral regions typically associated with scene selection and spatial information processing, including the hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus, and temporo-occipital cortex, were also implicated. Taken together, our findings offer new insights into the neural architecture subserving value-driven attention, both extending our understanding of nodes in the attention network previously implicated in feature-based, value-driven attention and identifying a ventral network of brain regions implicated in reward's influence on scene-dependent spatial orienting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Ray Liao
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Andy J Kim
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Brian A Anderson
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
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15
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Ryan-Lortie J, Pelletier G, Pilgrim M, Fellows LK. Gaze differences in configural and elemental evaluation during multi-attribute decision-making. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1167095. [PMID: 37694112 PMCID: PMC10485368 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1167095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction While many everyday choices are between multi-attribute options, how attribute values are integrated to allow such choices remains unclear. Recent findings suggest a distinction between elemental (attribute-by-attribute) and configural (holistic) evaluation of multi-attribute options, with different neural substrates. Here, we asked if there are behavioral or gaze pattern differences between these putatively distinct modes of multi-attribute decision-making. Methods Thirty-nine healthy men and women learned the monetary values of novel multi-attribute pseudo-objects (fribbles) and then made choices between pairs of these objects while eye movements were tracked. Value was associated with individual attributes in the elemental condition, and with unique combinations of attributes in the configural condition. Choice, reaction time, gaze fixation time on options and individual attributes, and within- and between-option gaze transitions were recorded. Results There were systematic behavioral differences between elemental and configural conditions. Elemental trials had longer reaction times and more between-option transitions, while configural trials had more within-option transitions. The effect of last fixation on choice was more pronounced in the configural condition. Discussion We observed differences in gaze patterns and the influence of last fixation location on choice in multi-attribute value-based choices depending on how value is associated with those attributes. This adds support for the claim that multi-attribute option values may emerge either elementally or holistically, reminiscent of similar distinctions in multi-attribute object recognition. This may be important to consider in neuroeconomics research that involve visually-presented complex objects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliette Ryan-Lortie
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Gabriel Pelletier
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Matthew Pilgrim
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Lesley K. Fellows
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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16
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Forster A, Rodrigues J, Ziebell P, Sanguinetti JL, Allen JJ, Hewig J. Investigating the role of the right inferior frontal gyrus in control perception: A double-blind cross-over study using ultrasonic neuromodulation. Neuropsychologia 2023; 187:108589. [PMID: 37302753 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2022] [Revised: 03/23/2023] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Being able to control inner and environmental states is a basic need of living creatures. The perception of such control is based on the perceived ratio of outcome probabilities given the presence and the absence of agentic behavior. If an organism believes that options exist to change the probability of a given outcome, control perception (CP) may emerge. Nonetheless, regarding this model, not much is known about how the brain processes CP from this information. This study uses low-intensity transcranial focused ultrasound neuromodulation in a randomized-controlled double blind cross-over design to investigate the impact of the right inferior frontal gyrus of the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) on this process. 39 healthy participants visited the laboratory twice (once in a sham, once in a neuromodulation condition) and rated their control perception regarding a classical control illusion task. EEG alpha and theta power density were analyzed in a hierarchical single trial-based mixed modeling approach. Results indicate that the litFUS neuromodulation changed the processing of stimulus probability without changing CP. Furthermore, neuromodulation of the right lPFC was found to modulate mid-frontal theta by altering its relationship with self-reported effort and worrying. While these data indicate lateral prefrontal sensitivity to stimulus probability, no evidence emerged for the dependency of CP on this processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- André Forster
- Julius Maximilians Univeristy of Würzburg, Marcusstraße 9-11, 97070, Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Johannes Rodrigues
- Julius Maximilians Univeristy of Würzburg, Marcusstraße 9-11, 97070, Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Philipp Ziebell
- Julius Maximilians Univeristy of Würzburg, Marcusstraße 9-11, 97070, Würzburg, Germany.
| | | | | | - Johannes Hewig
- Julius Maximilians Univeristy of Würzburg, Marcusstraße 9-11, 97070, Würzburg, Germany.
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17
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Hadjipanayi V, Ludwig CJH, Kent C. Graded prioritisation of targets in search: reward diminishes the low prevalence effect. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2023; 8:52. [PMID: 37542145 PMCID: PMC10403486 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-023-00507-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/06/2023] Open
Abstract
In many real-life contexts, observers are required to search for targets that are rarely present (e.g. tumours in X-rays; dangerous items in airport security screenings). Despite the rarity of these items, they are of enormous importance for the health and safety of the public, yet they are easily missed during visual search. This is referred to as the prevalence effect. In the current series of experiments, we investigate whether unequal reward can modulate the prevalence effect, in a multiple target search task. Having first established the impact of prevalence (Experiment 1) and reward (Experiment 2) on how efficiently participants can find one of several targets in the current paradigm, we then combined the two forms of priority to investigate their interaction. An unequal reward distribution (where lower prevalence items are more rewarded; Experiment 3) was found to diminish the effect of prevalence, compared to an equal reward distribution (Experiment 4) as indicated by faster response times and fewer misses. These findings suggest that when combined with an unequal reward distribution, the low prevalence effect can be diminished.
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18
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Vakhrushev R, Cheng FPH, Schacht A, Pooresmaeili A. Differential effects of intra-modal and cross-modal reward value on perception: ERP evidence. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0287900. [PMID: 37390067 PMCID: PMC10313067 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/02/2023] Open
Abstract
In natural environments objects comprise multiple features from the same or different sensory modalities but it is not known how perception of an object is affected by the value associations of its constituent parts. The present study compares intra- and cross-modal value-driven effects on behavioral and electrophysiological correlates of perception. Human participants first learned the reward associations of visual and auditory cues. Subsequently, they performed a visual discrimination task in the presence of previously rewarded, task-irrelevant visual or auditory cues (intra- and cross-modal cues, respectively). During the conditioning phase, when reward associations were learned and reward cues were the target of the task, high value stimuli of both modalities enhanced the electrophysiological correlates of sensory processing in posterior electrodes. During the post-conditioning phase, when reward delivery was halted and previously rewarded stimuli were task-irrelevant, cross-modal value significantly enhanced the behavioral measures of visual sensitivity, whereas intra-modal value produced only an insignificant decrement. Analysis of the simultaneously recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) of posterior electrodes revealed similar findings. We found an early (90-120 ms) suppression of ERPs evoked by high-value, intra-modal stimuli. Cross-modal stimuli led to a later value-driven modulation, with an enhancement of response positivity for high- compared to low-value stimuli starting at the N1 window (180-250 ms) and extending to the P3 (300-600 ms) responses. These results indicate that sensory processing of a compound stimulus comprising a visual target and task-irrelevant visual or auditory cues is modulated by the reward value of both sensory modalities, but such modulations rely on distinct underlying mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Vakhrushev
- Perception and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute Goettingen- A Joint Initiative of the University Medical Center Goettingen and the Max-Planck-Society, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Felicia Pei-Hsin Cheng
- Perception and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute Goettingen- A Joint Initiative of the University Medical Center Goettingen and the Max-Planck-Society, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Anne Schacht
- Affective Neuroscience and Psychophysiology Laboratory, Georg-Elias-Müller-Institute of Psychology, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Arezoo Pooresmaeili
- Perception and Cognition Lab, European Neuroscience Institute Goettingen- A Joint Initiative of the University Medical Center Goettingen and the Max-Planck-Society, Goettingen, Germany
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19
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Izakson L, Gal S, Shahar M, Tavor I, Levy DJ. Similar functional networks predict performance in both perceptual and value-based decision tasks. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:2669-2681. [PMID: 35724432 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Revised: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
There are numerous commonalities between perceptual and preferential decision processes. For instance, previous studies have shown that both of these decision types are influenced by context. Also, the same computational models can explain both. However, the neural processes and functional connections that underlie these similarities between perceptual and value-based decisions are still unclear. Hence, in the current study, we examine whether perceptual and preferential processes can be explained by similar functional networks utilizing data from the Human Connectome Project. We used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data to predict performance of 2 different decision-making tasks: a value-related task (the delay discounting task) and a perceptual task (the flanker task). We then examined the existence of shared predictive-network features across these 2 decision tasks. Interestingly, we found a significant positive correlation between the functional networks, which predicted the value-based and perceptual tasks. In addition, a larger functional connectivity between visual and frontal decision brain areas was a critical feature in the prediction of both tasks. These results demonstrate that functional connections between perceptual and value-related areas in the brain are inherently related to decision-making processes across domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liz Izakson
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Shachar Gal
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Moni Shahar
- Center of AI and Data Science, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Ido Tavor
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Strauss Center for Computational Neuroimaging, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Dino J Levy
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
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20
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Zyuzin J, Combs D, Melrose J, Kodaverdian N, Leather C, Carrillo JD, Monterosso JR, Brocas I. The neural correlates of value representation: From single items to bundles. Hum Brain Mapp 2023; 44:1476-1495. [PMID: 36440955 PMCID: PMC9921239 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Revised: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the core questions in Neuro-economics is to determine where value is represented. To date, most studies have focused on simple options and identified the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) as the common value region. We report the findings of an fMRI study in which we asked participants to make pairwise comparisons involving options of varying complexity: single items (Control condition), bundles made of the same two single items (Scaling condition) and bundles made of two different single items (Bundling condition). We construct a measure of choice consistency to capture how coherent the choices of a participant are with one another. We also record brain activity while participants make these choices. We find that a common core of regions involving the left VMPFC, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), regions associated with complex visual processing and the left cerebellum track value across all conditions. Also, regions in the DLPFC, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and the cerebellum are differentially recruited across conditions. Last, variations in activity in VMPFC and DLPFC value-tracking regions are associated with variations in choice consistency. This suggests that value based decision-making recruits a core set of regions as well as specific regions based on task demands. Further, correlations between consistency and the magnitude of signal change with lateral portions of the PFC suggest the possibility that activity in these regions may play a causal role in decision quality.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dalton Combs
- University of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - James Melrose
- Department of EconomicsUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Niree Kodaverdian
- Argyros School of Business and EconomicsChapman UniversityOrangeCAUSA
| | - Calvin Leather
- Department of EconomicsUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Juan D. Carrillo
- Department of EconomicsUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - John R. Monterosso
- Department of PsychologyUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
| | - Isabelle Brocas
- Department of EconomicsUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos AngelesCaliforniaUSA
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21
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Neural mechanisms underlying the hierarchical construction of perceived aesthetic value. Nat Commun 2023; 14:127. [PMID: 36693833 PMCID: PMC9873760 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35654-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Little is known about how the brain computes the perceived aesthetic value of complex stimuli such as visual art. Here, we used computational methods in combination with functional neuroimaging to provide evidence that the aesthetic value of a visual stimulus is computed in a hierarchical manner via a weighted integration over both low and high level stimulus features contained in early and late visual cortex, extending into parietal and lateral prefrontal cortices. Feature representations in parietal and lateral prefrontal cortex may in turn be utilized to produce an overall aesthetic value in the medial prefrontal cortex. Such brain-wide computations are not only consistent with a feature-based mechanism for value construction, but also resemble computations performed by a deep convolutional neural network. Our findings thus shed light on the existence of a general neurocomputational mechanism for rapidly and flexibly producing value judgements across an array of complex novel stimuli and situations.
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22
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Learned value modulates the access to visual awareness during continuous flash suppression. Sci Rep 2023; 13:756. [PMID: 36641499 PMCID: PMC9840604 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-28004-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Monetary value enhances visual perception and attention and boosts activity in the primary visual cortex, however, it is still unclear whether monetary value can modulate the conscious access to rewarding stimuli. Here we investigate this issue by employing a breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS) paradigm. We measured suppression durations of sinusoidal gratings having orthogonal orientations under CFS in adult volunteers before and after a short session of Pavlovian associative learning in which each orientation was arbitrarily associated either with high or low monetary reward. We found that monetary value accelerated the access to visual awareness during CFS. Specifically, after the associative learning, suppression durations of the visual stimulus associated with high monetary value were shorter compared to the visual stimulus associated with low monetary value. Critically, the effect was replicated in a second experiment using a detection task for b-CFS that was orthogonal to the reward associative learning. These results indicate that monetary reward facilitates the access to awareness of visual stimuli associated with monetary value probably by boosting their representation at the early stages of visual processing in the brain.
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23
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Antono JE, Vakhrushev R, Pooresmaeili A. Value-driven modulation of visual perception by visual and auditory reward cues: The role of performance-contingent delivery of reward. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:1062168. [PMID: 36618995 PMCID: PMC9816136 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.1062168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Perception is modulated by reward value, an effect elicited not only by stimuli that are predictive of performance-contingent delivery of reward (PC) but also by stimuli that were previously rewarded (PR). PC and PR cues may engage different mechanisms relying on goal-driven versus stimulus-driven prioritization of high value stimuli, respectively. However, these two modes of reward modulation have not been systematically compared against each other. This study employed a behavioral paradigm where participants' visual orientation discrimination was tested in the presence of task-irrelevant visual or auditory reward cues. In the first phase (PC), correct performance led to a high or low monetary reward dependent on the identity of visual or auditory cues. In the subsequent phase (PR), visual or auditory cues were not followed by reward delivery anymore. We hypothesized that PC cues have a stronger modulatory effect on visual discrimination and pupil responses compared to PR cues. We found an overall larger task-evoked pupil dilation in PC compared to PR phase. Whereas PC and PR cues both increased the accuracy of visual discrimination, value-driven acceleration of reaction times (RTs) and pupillary responses only occurred for PC cues. The modulation of pupil size by high reward PC cues was strongly correlated with the modulation of a combined measure of speed and accuracy. These results indicate that although value-driven modulation of perception can occur even when reward delivery is halted, stronger goal-driven control elicited by PC reward cues additionally results in a more efficient balance between accuracy and speed of perceptual choices.
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Calabro R, Lyu Y, Leong YC. Trial-by-trial fluctuations in amygdala activity track motivational enhancement of desirable sensory evidence during perceptual decision-making. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:5690-5703. [PMID: 36398723 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2022] [Revised: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
People are biased toward seeing outcomes that they are motivated to see. For example, wanting their favored team to prevail biases sports fans to perceive an ambiguous foul in a manner that is favorable to the team they support. Here, we test the hypothesis that such motivational biases in perceptual decision-making are associated with amygdala activity. We used monetary incentives to experimentally manipulate participants to want to see one percept over another while they performed a categorization task involving ambiguous images. Participants were more likely to categorize an image as the category we motivated them to see, suggesting that wanting to see a particular percept biased their perceptual decisions. Heightened amygdala activity was associated with motivation consistent categorizations and tracked trial-by-trial enhancement of neural activity in sensory cortices encoding the desirable category. Analyses using a drift diffusion model further suggest that trial-by-trial amygdala activity was specifically associated with biases in the accumulation of sensory evidence. In contrast, frontoparietal regions commonly associated with biases in perceptual decision-making were not associated with motivational bias. Altogether, our results suggest that wanting to see an outcome biases perceptual decisions via distinct mechanisms and may depend on dynamic fluctuations in amygdala activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ren Calabro
- 5848 S University Avenue, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637 , USA
| | - Yizhou Lyu
- 5848 S University Avenue, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637 , USA
| | - Yuan Chang Leong
- 5848 S University Avenue, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago , Chicago, IL 60637 , USA
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25
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Grégoire L, Mrkonja L, Anderson BA. Cross-modal generalization of value-based attentional priority. Atten Percept Psychophys 2022; 84:2423-2431. [PMID: 35978217 PMCID: PMC9633543 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02551-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
This study aimed to determine whether value-based attentional biases learned in the auditory domain can correspondingly shape visual attention. A learning phase established associations between auditory words and monetary rewards via a modified version of the dichotic listening task. In a subsequent test phase, participants performed a Stroop task including written representations of auditory words previously paired with reward and semantic associates of formerly rewarded words. Results support a semantic generalization of value-driven attention from the auditory to the visual domain. The findings provide valuable insight into a critical aspect of adaptation and the understanding of maladaptive behaviors (e.g., addiction).
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Grégoire
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, 4235 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843-4235, USA.
| | - Lana Mrkonja
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, 4235 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843-4235, USA
| | - Brian A Anderson
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, 4235 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843-4235, USA
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26
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Gershman SJ, Burke T. Mental control of uncertainty. COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2022:10.3758/s13415-022-01034-8. [PMID: 36168079 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-022-01034-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Can you reduce uncertainty by thinking? Intuition suggests that this happens through the elusive process of attention: if we expend mental effort, we can increase the reliability of our sensory data. Models based on "rational inattention" formalize this idea in terms of a trade-off between the costs and benefits of attention. This paper surveys the origin of these models in economics, their connection to rate-distortion theory, and some of their recent applications to psychology and neuroscience. We also report new data from a numerosity judgment task in which we manipulate performance incentives. Consistent with rational inattention, people are able to improve performance on this task when incentivized, in part by increasing the reliability of their sensory data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel J Gershman
- Department of Psychology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, MA, Cambridge, USA.
| | - Taylor Burke
- Department of Psychology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, MA, Cambridge, USA
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27
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Cho YT, Moujaes F, Schleifer CH, Starc M, Ji JL, Santamauro N, Adkinson B, Kolobaric A, Flynn M, Krystal JH, Murray JD, Repovs G, Anticevic A. Reward and loss incentives improve spatial working memory by shaping trial-by-trial posterior frontoparietal signals. Neuroimage 2022; 254:119139. [PMID: 35346841 PMCID: PMC9264479 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2021] [Revised: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 10/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Integrating motivational signals with cognition is critical for goal-directed activities. The mechanisms that link neural changes with motivated working memory continue to be understood. Here, we tested how externally cued and non-cued (internally represented) reward and loss impact spatial working memory precision and neural circuits in human subjects using fMRI. We translated the classic delayed-response spatial working memory paradigm from non-human primate studies to take advantage of a continuous numeric measure of working memory precision, and the wealth of translational neuroscience yielded by these studies. Our results demonstrated that both cued and non-cued reward and loss improved spatial working memory precision. Visual association regions of the posterior prefrontal and parietal cortices, specifically the precentral sulcus (PCS) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS), had increased BOLD signal during incentivized spatial working memory. A subset of these regions had trial-by-trial increases in BOLD signal that were associated with better working memory precision, suggesting that these regions may be critical for linking neural signals with motivated working memory. In contrast, regions straddling executive networks, including areas in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior parietal cortex and cerebellum displayed decreased BOLD signal during incentivized working memory. While reward and loss similarly impacted working memory processes, they dissociated during feedback when money won or avoided in loss was given based on working memory performance. During feedback, the trial-by-trial amount and valence of reward/loss received was dissociated amongst regions such as the ventral striatum, habenula and periaqueductal gray. Overall, this work suggests motivated spatial working memory is supported by complex sensory processes, and that the IPS and PCS in the posterior frontoparietal cortices may be key regions for integrating motivational signals with spatial working memory precision.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youngsun T Cho
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA; Yale University, Child Study Center, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA; Connecticut Mental Health Center, Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, 34 Park Street, 3rd floor, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA; Yale University, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University Neuroscience Program, P.O. Box 208074, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
| | - Flora Moujaes
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Charles H Schleifer
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | | | - Jie Lisa Ji
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Nicole Santamauro
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Brendan Adkinson
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Antonija Kolobaric
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Morgan Flynn
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - John H Krystal
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA; Yale University, NIAAA Center for Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism, 34 Park Street, 3rd floor, New Haven, CT 06519 USA
| | - John D Murray
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA; Yale University, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University Neuroscience Program, P.O. Box 208074, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA; Yale University, Department of Physics, 217 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Grega Repovs
- University of Ljubljana, Department of Psychology
| | - Alan Anticevic
- Yale University, Department of Psychiatry, 300 George Street, Suite 901, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA; Connecticut Mental Health Center, Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, 34 Park Street, 3rd floor, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA; Yale University, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University Neuroscience Program, P.O. Box 208074, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA; University of Zagreb, University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapce; Yale University, Department of Psychology, Box 208205, New Haven, CT, 06520-8205, USA; Yale University, NIAAA Center for Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism, 34 Park Street, 3rd floor, New Haven, CT 06519 USA.
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28
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Value-driven effects on perceptual averaging. Atten Percept Psychophys 2022; 84:781-794. [PMID: 35138578 PMCID: PMC9001208 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-022-02446-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Perceptual averaging refers to a strategy of encoding the statistical properties of entire sets of objects rather than encoding individual object properties, potentially circumventing the visual system's strict capacity limitations. Prior work has shown that such average representations of set properties, such as its mean size, can be modulated by top-down and bottom-up attention. However, it is unclear to what extent attentional biases through selection history, in the form of value-driven attentional capture, influences this type of summary statistical representation. To investigate, we conducted two experiments in which participants estimated the mean size of a set of heterogeneously sized circles while a previously rewarded color singleton was part of the set. In Experiment 1, all circles were gray, except either the smallest or the largest circle, which was presented in a color previously associated with a reward. When the largest circle in the set was associated with the highest value (as a proxy of selection history), we observed the largest biases, such that perceived mean size scaled linearly with the increasing value of the attended color singleton. In Experiment 2, we introduced a dual-task component in the form of an attentional search task to ensure that the observed bias of reward on perceptual averaging was not fully explained by focusing attention solely on the reward-signaling color singleton. Collectively, findings support the proposal that selection history, like bottom-up and top-down attention, influences perceptual averaging, and that this happens in a flexible manner proportional to the extent to which attention is captured.
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29
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Alarefi A, Wang X, Tao R, Rui Q, Gao G, Wang Y, Pang L, Liu C, Zhang X. Depicting People in Visual Cues Affects Alcohol Cue Reactivity in Male Alcohol-Dependent Patients. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12030307. [PMID: 35326264 PMCID: PMC8946691 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12030307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2021] [Revised: 01/15/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Cue reactivity is often used to study alcohol cues brain responses. Standardized image sets are used, but the effect of viewing people interacting with the alcohol drink remains unclear, which is associated with the factors of alcohol cues that influence the degree of response to alcohol stimuli. The present study used fMRI to investigate the reactivity of alcohol dependence (AD) inpatients to alcohol cues with or without human drinking behavior. Cues with a human interacting with a drink were hypothesized to increase sensorimotor activation. In total, 30 AD inpatients were asked to view pictures with a factorial design of beverage types (alcoholic vs. non-alcoholic beverages) and cue types (with or without drink action). Whole-brain analyses were performed. A correlation analysis was conducted to confirm whether the whole-brain analysis revealed cue-related brain activations correlated with problem drinking duration. The left lingual gyrus showed significant beverage types through cue type interaction, and the bilateral temporal cortex showed significant activation in response to alcohol cues depicting human drinking behavior. The right and left lingual gyrus regions and left temporal cortex were positively correlated with problem drinking duration. Sensorimotor activations in the temporal cortex may reflect self-referential and memory-based scene processing. Thus, our findings indicate these regions are associated with alcohol use and suggest them for cue exposure treatment of alcohol addiction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdulqawi Alarefi
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, School of Life Science, Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; (A.A.); (Y.W.); (C.L.)
| | - Xunshi Wang
- Affiliated Psychological Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei Fourth People’s Hospital, Anhui Mental Health Center, Hefei 230017, China; (X.W.); (R.T.); (Q.R.); (G.G.)
| | - Rui Tao
- Affiliated Psychological Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei Fourth People’s Hospital, Anhui Mental Health Center, Hefei 230017, China; (X.W.); (R.T.); (Q.R.); (G.G.)
| | - Qinqin Rui
- Affiliated Psychological Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei Fourth People’s Hospital, Anhui Mental Health Center, Hefei 230017, China; (X.W.); (R.T.); (Q.R.); (G.G.)
| | - Guoqing Gao
- Affiliated Psychological Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei Fourth People’s Hospital, Anhui Mental Health Center, Hefei 230017, China; (X.W.); (R.T.); (Q.R.); (G.G.)
| | - Ying Wang
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, School of Life Science, Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; (A.A.); (Y.W.); (C.L.)
| | - Liangjun Pang
- Affiliated Psychological Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei Fourth People’s Hospital, Anhui Mental Health Center, Hefei 230017, China; (X.W.); (R.T.); (Q.R.); (G.G.)
- Correspondence: (L.P.); (X.Z.); Tel.: +86-551-63607295 (X.Z.)
| | - Chialun Liu
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, School of Life Science, Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; (A.A.); (Y.W.); (C.L.)
| | - Xiaochu Zhang
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, School of Life Science, Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China; (A.A.); (Y.W.); (C.L.)
- Affiliated Psychological Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei Fourth People’s Hospital, Anhui Mental Health Center, Hefei 230017, China; (X.W.); (R.T.); (Q.R.); (G.G.)
- Centers for Biomedical Engineering, School of Information Science and Technology, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
- Department of Psychology, School of Humanities & Social Science, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
- Correspondence: (L.P.); (X.Z.); Tel.: +86-551-63607295 (X.Z.)
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30
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Hattori R, Komiyama T. Context-dependent persistency as a coding mechanism for robust and widely distributed value coding. Neuron 2022; 110:502-515.e11. [PMID: 34818514 PMCID: PMC8813889 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2021] [Revised: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 11/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Task-related information is widely distributed across the brain with different coding properties, such as persistency. We found in mice that coding persistency of action history and value was variable across areas, learning phases, and task context, with the highest persistency in the retrosplenial cortex of expert mice performing value-based decisions where history needs to be maintained across trials. Persistent coding also emerged in artificial networks trained to perform mouse-like reinforcement learning. Persistency allows temporally untangled value representations in neuronal manifolds where population activity exhibits cyclic trajectories that transition along the value axis after action outcomes, collectively forming cylindrical dynamics. Simulations indicated that untangled persistency facilitates robust value retrieval by downstream networks. Even leakage of persistently maintained value through non-specific connectivity could contribute to the brain-wide distributed value coding with different levels of persistency. These results reveal that context-dependent, untangled persistency facilitates reliable signal coding and its distribution across the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryoma Hattori
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Neurosciences, and Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 90093, USA.
| | - Takaki Komiyama
- Neurobiology Section, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, Department of Neurosciences, and Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 90093, USA.
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31
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Chen JA, Li S, Wang BX, Wu N, Li F, Li J. The effect of visually evoked innate fear on reward-associated conditional response and reversal learning in mice. Physiol Behav 2022; 244:113648. [PMID: 34798128 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The response to visually evoked innate fear is essential for survival and impacts the cognition and behavior of animals to threats in the environment. However, contradictory findings of the interaction of fear and executive behaviors were reported by previous studies. To address this question, the present study investigated the effect of looming stimuli-driven visually innate fear on reward-associated conditioned response and reversal learning in mice with low or high motivation for sucrose. The mice with low motivation exposed to looming stimuli displayed reduced efficiency in the test of conditional response in the fixed ratio 1 schedule and impaired executive motivation as tested in the progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement. However, the high motivated mice exposed to looming stimuli showed an unaffected conditional response but an increased executive motivation. In the reversal learning program, looming stimuli at the middle stage caused deficits in cognitive flexibility in the mice with low and high motivation. Therefore, these results illuminate the impact of visually evoked innate fear on conditional response and reversal learning and further show that the impacts are relevant to internal motivation and external fear stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing-An Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing, China
| | - Shuo Li
- State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing, China
| | - Bing-Xin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing, China
| | - Ning Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing, China
| | - Fei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing, China.
| | - Jin Li
- State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Key Laboratory of Neuropsychopharmacology, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing, China.
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32
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Subjective confidence reflects representation of Bayesian probability in cortex. Nat Hum Behav 2022; 6:294-305. [PMID: 35058641 PMCID: PMC7612428 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-021-01247-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
What gives rise to the human sense of confidence? Here, we tested the Bayesian hypothesis that confidence is based on a probability distribution represented in neural population activity. We implemented several computational models of confidence, and tested their predictions using psychophysics and fMRI. Using a generative model-based fMRI decoding approach, we extracted probability distributions from neural population activity in human visual cortex. We found that subjective confidence tracks the shape of the decoded distribution. That is, when sensory evidence was more precise, as indicated by the decoded distribution, observers reported higher levels of confidence. We furthermore found that neural activity in the insula, anterior cingulate, and prefrontal cortex was linked to both the shape of the decoded distribution and reported confidence, in ways consistent with the Bayesian model. Altogether, our findings support recent statistical theories of confidence and suggest that probabilistic information guides the computation of one’s sense of confidence.
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33
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Hanning NM, Wollenberg L, Jonikaitis D, Deubel H. Eye and hand movements disrupt attentional control. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0262567. [PMID: 35045115 PMCID: PMC8769330 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Voluntary attentional control is the ability to selectively focus on a subset of visual information in the presence of other competing stimuli–a marker of cognitive control enabling flexible, goal-driven behavior. To test its robustness, we contrasted attentional control with the most common source of attentional orienting in daily life: attention shifts prior to goal-directed eye and hand movements. In a multi-tasking paradigm, human participants attended at a location while planning eye or hand movements elsewhere. Voluntary attentional control suffered with every simultaneous action plan, even under reduced task difficulty and memory load–factors known to interfere with attentional control. Furthermore, the performance cost was limited to voluntary attention: We observed simultaneous attention benefits at two movement targets without attentional competition between them. This demonstrates that the visual system allows for the concurrent representation of multiple attentional foci. Since attentional control is extremely fragile and dominated by premotor attention shifts, we propose that action-driven selection plays the superordinate role for visual selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Maria Hanning
- Department Psychologie, Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
- Department of Psychology and Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Luca Wollenberg
- Department Psychologie, Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
- Department Biologie, Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Planegg, München, Germany
| | - Donatas Jonikaitis
- Department of Neurobiology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States of America
| | - Heiner Deubel
- Department Psychologie, Allgemeine und Experimentelle Psychologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany
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34
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Reward-driven modulation of spatial attention in the human frontal eye-field. Neuroimage 2021; 247:118846. [PMID: 34942365 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2021] [Revised: 12/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Attentional selection and the decision of where to make an eye-movement are driven by various factors such as the representation of salience, task goal, and stimulus relevance, as well as expectations or predictions based on past experience. Brain systems implicated in these processes recruit cortico-subcortical areas including the Frontal Eye-Field (FEF), parietal cortex, or superior colliculus. How these areas interact to govern attention remains elusive. Priority maps of space have been observed in several brain regions, but the neural substrates where different sources of information are combined and integrated to guide attentional selection has not been elucidated. We investigated here the neural mechanisms subserving how reward cues influence the voluntary deployment of attention, in conditions where stimulus-driven capture and task-related goals compete for attention selection. Using fMRI in a visual search task in n = 23 participants, we found a selective modulation of FEF by the reward value of distractors during attentional shifts, particularly after high-predictive cueing to invalid locations. Reward information also modulated FEF connectivity to superior colliculus, striatum, and visual cortex. We conclude that FEF may occupy a central position within brain circuits integrating different sources of top-down biases for the generation of spatial saliency maps and guidance of selective attention.
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35
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Kim AJ, Grégoire L, Anderson BA. Value-Biased Competition in the Auditory System of the Brain. J Cogn Neurosci 2021; 34:180-191. [PMID: 34673958 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Attentional capture by previously reward-associated stimuli has predominantly been measured in the visual domain. Recently, behavioral studies of value-driven attention have demonstrated involuntary attentional capture by previously reward-associated sounds, emulating behavioral findings within the visual domain and suggesting a common mechanism of attentional capture by value across sensory modalities. However, the neural correlates of the modulatory role of learned value on the processing of auditory information has not been examined. Here, we conducted a neuroimaging study on human participants using a previously established behavioral paradigm that measures value-driven attention in an auditory target identification task. We replicate behavioral findings of both voluntary prioritization and involuntary attentional capture by previously reward-associated sounds. When task-relevant, the selective processing of high-value sounds is supported by reduced activation in the dorsal attention network of the visual system (FEF, intraparietal sulcus, right middle frontal gyrus), implicating cross-modal processes of biased competition. When task-irrelevant, in contrast, high-value sounds evoke elevated activation in posterior parietal cortex and are represented with greater fidelity in the auditory cortex. Our findings reveal two distinct mechanisms of prioritizing reward-related auditory signals, with voluntary and involuntary modes of orienting that are differently manifested in biased competition.
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36
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Magrabi A, Ludwig VU, Stoppel CM, Paschke LM, Wisniewski D, Heekeren HR, Walter H. Dynamic Computation of Value Signals via a Common Neural Network in Multi-Attribute Decision-Making. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 17:683-693. [PMID: 34850226 PMCID: PMC9250299 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsab125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2021] [Revised: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies in decision neuroscience have identified robust neural representations for the value of choice options. However, overall values often depend on multiple attributes, and it is not well understood how the brain evaluates different attributes and integrates them to combined values. In particular, it is not clear whether attribute values are computed in distinct attribute-specific regions or within the general valuation network known to process overall values. Here, we used an fMRI choice task in which abstract stimuli had to be evaluated based on variations of the attributes color and motion. The behavioral data showed that participants responded faster when overall values were high and attribute value differences were low. On the neural level, we did not find that attribute values were systematically represented in areas V4 and V5, even though these regions are associated with attribute-specific processing of color and motion, respectively. Instead, attribute values were associated with activity in the posterior cingulate cortex, ventral striatum, and posterior inferior temporal gyrus. Further, overall values were represented in dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and attribute value differences in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, which suggests that these regions play a key role for the neural integration of attribute values.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amadeus Magrabi
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
| | - Vera U Ludwig
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany.,Wharton Neuroscience Initiative, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Christian M Stoppel
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany
| | - Lena M Paschke
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany.,Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 12489, Germany
| | - David Wisniewski
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Gent 9000, Belgium
| | - Hauke R Heekeren
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany.,Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 14195, Germany
| | - Henrik Walter
- Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin 10117, Germany.,Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin 10119, Germany
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37
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Krajbich I, Mitsumasu A, Polania R, Ruff CC, Fehr E. A causal role for the right frontal eye fields in value comparison. eLife 2021; 10:e67477. [PMID: 34779767 PMCID: PMC8592572 DOI: 10.7554/elife.67477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have suggested close functional links between overt visual attention and decision making. This suggests that the corresponding mechanisms may interface in brain regions known to be crucial for guiding visual attention - such as the frontal eye field (FEF). Here, we combined brain stimulation, eye tracking, and computational approaches to explore this possibility. We show that inhibitory transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the right FEF has a causal impact on decision making, reducing the effect of gaze dwell time on choice while also increasing reaction times. We computationally characterize this putative mechanism by using the attentional drift diffusion model (aDDM), which reveals that FEF inhibition reduces the relative discounting of the non-fixated option in the comparison process. Our findings establish an important causal role of the right FEF in choice, elucidate the underlying mechanism, and provide support for one of the key causal hypotheses associated with the aDDM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian Krajbich
- Departments of Psychology, Economics, The Ohio State UniversityColumbusUnited States
| | - Andres Mitsumasu
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Rafael Polania
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Decision Neuroscience Lab, Depterment of Heatlh Sciences and Technology, ETH ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Christian C Ruff
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Ernst Fehr
- Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
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38
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Abstract
Rewards exert a deep influence on our cognition and behavior. Here, we used a paradigm in which reward information was provided at either encoding or retrieval of a brief, masked stimulus to show that reward can also rapidly modulate perceptual encoding of visual information. Experiment 1 (n = 30 adults) showed that participants' response accuracy was enhanced when a to-be-encoded grating signaled high reward relative to low reward, but only when the grating was presented very briefly and participants reported that they were not consciously aware of it. Experiment 2 (n = 29 adults) showed that there was no difference in participants' response accuracy when reward information was instead provided at the stage of retrieval, ruling out an explanation of the reward-modulation effect in terms of differences in motivated retrieval. Taken together, our findings provide behavioral evidence consistent with a rapid reward modulation of visual perception, which may not require consciousness.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Anina N Rich
- Department of Cognitive Science, Perception in Action Research Centre, Macquarie University.,Centre for Elite Performance, Expertise and Training, Macquarie University
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39
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Hill-Bowen LD, Riedel MC, Poudel R, Salo T, Flannery JS, Camilleri JA, Eickhoff SB, Laird AR, Sutherland MT. The cue-reactivity paradigm: An ensemble of networks driving attention and cognition when viewing drug and natural reward-related stimuli. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 130:201-213. [PMID: 34400176 PMCID: PMC8511211 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The cue-reactivity paradigm is a widely adopted neuroimaging probe engendering brain activity linked with attentional, affective, and reward processes following presentation of appetitive stimuli. Given the multiple mental operations invoked, we sought to decompose cue-related brain activity into constituent components employing emergent meta-analytic techniques when considering drug and natural reward-related cues. We conducted coordinate-based meta-analyses delineating common and distinct brain activity convergence across cue-reactivity studies (N = 196 articles) involving drug (n = 133) or natural (n = 63) visual stimuli. Across all studies, convergence was observed in limbic, cingulate, insula, and fronto-parieto-occipital regions. Drug-distinct convergence was observed in posterior cingulate, dorsolateral prefrontal, and temporo-parietal regions, whereas distinct-natural convergence was observed in thalamic, insular, orbitofrontal, and occipital regions. We characterized connectivity profiles of identified regions by leveraging task-independent and task-dependent MRI datasets, grouped these profiles into subnetworks, and linked each with putative mental operations. Outcomes suggest multifaceted brain activity during cue-reactivity can be decomposed into elemental processes and indicate that while drugs of abuse usurp the brain's natural-reward-processing system, some regions appear distinct to drug cue-reactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren D Hill-Bowen
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8(th)Street, Miami, FL, 33199, United States
| | - Michael C Riedel
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8(th)Street, Miami, FL, 33199, United States
| | - Ranjita Poudel
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8(th)Street, Miami, FL, 33199, United States
| | - Taylor Salo
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8(th)Street, Miami, FL, 33199, United States
| | - Jessica S Flannery
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8(th)Street, Miami, FL, 33199, United States
| | - Julia A Camilleri
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany; Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Simon B Eickhoff
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Brain & Behaviour (INM-7), Research Centre Jülich, 52425, Jülich, Germany; Institute of Systems Neuroscience, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Angela R Laird
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8(th)Street, Miami, FL, 33199, United States
| | - Matthew T Sutherland
- Department of Psychology, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8(th)Street, Miami, FL, 33199, United States.
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40
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Anderson BA, Kim H, Kim AJ, Liao MR, Mrkonja L, Clement A, Grégoire L. The past, present, and future of selection history. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 130:326-350. [PMID: 34499927 PMCID: PMC8511179 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
The last ten years of attention research have witnessed a revolution, replacing a theoretical dichotomy (top-down vs. bottom-up control) with a trichotomy (biased by current goals, physical salience, and selection history). This third new mechanism of attentional control, selection history, is multifaceted. Some aspects of selection history must be learned over time whereas others reflect much more transient influences. A variety of different learning experiences can shape the attention system, including reward, aversive outcomes, past experience searching for a target, target‒non-target relations, and more. In this review, we provide an overview of the historical forces that led to the proposal of selection history as a distinct mechanism of attentional control. We then propose a formal definition of selection history, with concrete criteria, and identify different components of experience-driven attention that fit within this definition. The bulk of the review is devoted to exploring how these different components relate to one another. We conclude by proposing an integrative account of selection history centered on underlying themes that emerge from our review.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian A Anderson
- Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States.
| | - Haena Kim
- Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States
| | - Andy J Kim
- Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States
| | - Ming-Ray Liao
- Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States
| | - Lana Mrkonja
- Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States
| | - Andrew Clement
- Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, United States
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41
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Abstract
In active agents, sensory and motor processes form an inevitable bond. This wedding is particularly striking for saccadic eye movements - the prime target of Shadmehr and Ahmed's thesis - which impose frequent changes on the retinal image. Changes in movement vigor (latency and speed), therefore, will need to be accompanied by changes in visual and attentional processes. We argue that the mechanisms that control movement vigor may also enable vision to attune to changes in movement kinematics.
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42
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Tashjian SM, Galván A. Frontopolar Cortex Response to Positive Feedback Relates to Nonincentivized Task Persistence. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:2293-2309. [PMID: 34581407 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
When individuals make decisions whether to persist at a task, their decision-making is informed by whether success is pending or accomplished. If pending, the brain facilitates behavioral persistence; if the goal is accomplished or no longer desired, the brain enables switching away from the current task. Feedback, which is known to differentially engage reward neurocircuitry, may modulate goal-directed behavior such as task persistence. However, prior studies are confounded by offering external incentives for persistence. This study tested whether neural response to feedback differed as a function of nonincentivized task persistence in 99 human participants ages 13-30 (60 females). Individuals who persisted engaged the frontopolar cortex (FPC) to a greater extent during receipt of task-relevant positive feedback compared with negative feedback. For individuals who quit, task-irrelevant monetary reward engaged the FPC to a greater extent compared with positive feedback. FPC activation in response to positive feedback is identified as a key contributor to task persistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Tashjian
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Adriana Galván
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.,Brain Research Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
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43
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Wolf C, Lappe M. Vision as oculomotor reward: cognitive contributions to the dynamic control of saccadic eye movements. Cogn Neurodyn 2021; 15:547-568. [PMID: 34367360 PMCID: PMC8286912 DOI: 10.1007/s11571-020-09661-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Revised: 12/12/2020] [Accepted: 12/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Humans and other primates are equipped with a foveated visual system. As a consequence, we reorient our fovea to objects and targets in the visual field that are conspicuous or that we consider relevant or worth looking at. These reorientations are achieved by means of saccadic eye movements. Where we saccade to depends on various low-level factors such as a targets' luminance but also crucially on high-level factors like the expected reward or a targets' relevance for perception and subsequent behavior. Here, we review recent findings how the control of saccadic eye movements is influenced by higher-level cognitive processes. We first describe the pathways by which cognitive contributions can influence the neural oculomotor circuit. Second, we summarize what saccade parameters reveal about cognitive mechanisms, particularly saccade latencies, saccade kinematics and changes in saccade gain. Finally, we review findings on what renders a saccade target valuable, as reflected in oculomotor behavior. We emphasize that foveal vision of the target after the saccade can constitute an internal reward for the visual system and that this is reflected in oculomotor dynamics that serve to quickly and accurately provide detailed foveal vision of relevant targets in the visual field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Wolf
- Institute for Psychology, University of Muenster, Fliednerstrasse 21, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Markus Lappe
- Institute for Psychology, University of Muenster, Fliednerstrasse 21, 48149 Münster, Germany
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44
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Grahek I, Schettino A, Koster EHW, Andersen SK. Dynamic Interplay between Reward and Voluntary Attention Determines Stimulus Processing in Visual Cortex. J Cogn Neurosci 2021; 33:2357-2371. [PMID: 34272951 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Reward enhances stimulus processing in the visual cortex, but the mechanisms through which this effect occurs remain unclear. Reward prospect can both increase the deployment of voluntary attention and increase the salience of previously neutral stimuli. In this study, we orthogonally manipulated reward and voluntary attention while human participants performed a global motion detection task. We recorded steady-state visual evoked potentials to simultaneously measure the processing of attended and unattended stimuli linked to different reward probabilities, as they compete for attentional resources. The processing of the high rewarded feature was enhanced independently of voluntary attention, but this gain diminished once rewards were no longer available. Neither the voluntary attention nor the salience account alone can fully explain these results. Instead, we propose how these two accounts can be integrated to allow for the flexible balance between reward-driven increase in salience and voluntary attention.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Antonio Schettino
- Erasmus University Rotterdam.,Institute for Globally Distributed Open Research and Education (IGDORE)
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45
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Pelletier G, Aridan N, Fellows LK, Schonberg T. A Preferential Role for Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex in Assessing "the Value of the Whole" in Multiattribute Object Evaluation. J Neurosci 2021; 41:5056-5068. [PMID: 33906899 PMCID: PMC8197643 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0241-21.2021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 04/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Everyday decision-making commonly involves assigning values to complex objects with multiple value-relevant attributes. Drawing on object recognition theories, we hypothesized two routes to multiattribute evaluation: assessing the value of the whole object based on holistic attribute configuration or summing individual attribute values. In two samples of healthy human male and female participants undergoing eye tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while evaluating novel pseudo objects, we found evidence for both forms of evaluation. Fixations to and transitions between attributes differed systematically when the value of pseudo objects was associated with individual attributes or attribute configurations. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and perirhinal cortex were engaged when configural processing was required. These results converge with our recent findings that individuals with vmPFC lesions were impaired in decisions requiring configural evaluation but not when evaluating the sum of the parts. This suggests that multiattribute decision-making engages distinct evaluation mechanisms relying on partially dissociable neural substrates, depending on the relationship between attributes and value.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Decision neuroscience has only recently begun to address how multiple choice-relevant attributes are brought together during evaluation and choice among complex options. Object recognition research makes a crucial distinction between individual attribute and holistic/configural object processing, but how the brain evaluates attributes and whole objects remains unclear. Using fMRI and eye tracking, we found that the vmPFC and the perirhinal cortex contribute to value estimation specifically when value was related to whole objects, that is, predicted by the unique configuration of attributes and not when value was predicted by the sum of individual attribute values. This perspective on the interactions between subjective value and object processing mechanisms provides a novel bridge between the study of object recognition and reward-guided decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Pelletier
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Nadav Aridan
- Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Lesley K Fellows
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Tom Schonberg
- Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
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46
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Botvinik-Nezer R, Salomon T, Schonberg T. Enhanced Bottom-Up and Reduced Top-Down fMRI Activity Is Related to Long-Lasting Nonreinforced Behavioral Change. Cereb Cortex 2021; 30:858-874. [PMID: 31408106 PMCID: PMC7132905 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhz132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2019] [Revised: 05/28/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral change studies and interventions focus on self-control and external reinforcements to influence preferences. Cue-approach training (CAT) has been shown to induce preference changes lasting months by merely associating items with neutral cues and speeded responses. We utilized this paradigm to study neural representation of preferences and their modification without external reinforcements. We scanned 36 participants with fMRI during a novel passive viewing task before, after and 30 days following CAT. We preregistered the predictions that activity in memory, top-down attention, and value-processing regions will underlie preference modification. While most theories associate preferences with prefrontal regions, we found that “bottom-up” perceptual mechanisms were associated with immediate change, whereas reduced “top-down” parietal activity was related to long-term change. Activity in value-related prefrontal regions was enhanced immediately after CAT for trained items and 1 month after for all items. Our findings suggest a novel neural mechanism of preference representation and modification. We suggest that nonreinforced change of preferences occurs initially in perceptual representation of items, putatively leading to long-term changes in “top-down” processes. These findings offer implementation of bottom-up instead of top-down targeted interventions for long-lasting behavioral change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rotem Botvinik-Nezer
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.,Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Neurobiology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Tom Salomon
- Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Neurobiology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Tom Schonberg
- Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel.,Faculty of Life Sciences, Department of Neurobiology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
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47
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Wiegand I, Wolfe JM. Target value and prevalence influence visual foraging in younger and older age. Vision Res 2021; 186:87-102. [PMID: 34062375 DOI: 10.1016/j.visres.2021.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2020] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
The prevalence and reward-value of targets have an influence on visual search. The strength of the effect of an item's reward-value on attentional selection varies substantially between individuals and is potentially sensitive to aging. We investigated individual and age differences in a hybrid foraging task, in which the prevalence and value of multiple target types was varied. Using optimal foraging theory measures, foraging was more efficient overall in younger than older observers. However, the influence of prevalence and value on target selections was similar across age groups, suggesting that the underlying cognitive mechanisms are preserved in older age. When prevalence was varied but target value was balanced, younger and older observers preferably selected the most frequent target type and were biased to select another instance of the previously selected target type. When value was varied, younger and older observers showed a tendency to select high-value targets, but preferences were more diverse between individuals. When value and prevalence were inversely related, some observers showed particularly strong preferences for high-valued target types, while others showed a preference for high-prevalent, albeit low-value, target types. In younger adults, individual differences in the selection choices correlated with a personality index, suggesting that avoiding selections of low-value targets may be related to reward-seeking behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Wiegand
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Department of Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Psychology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Visual Attention Lab, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Jeremy M Wolfe
- Visual Attention Lab, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Departments of Ophthalmology & Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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48
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Prichard A, Chhibber R, Athanassiades K, Chiu V, Spivak M, Berns GS. The mouth matters most: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of how dogs perceive inanimate objects. J Comp Neurol 2021; 529:2987-2994. [PMID: 33745141 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2020] [Revised: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The perception and representation of objects in the world are foundational to all animals. The relative importance of objects' physical properties versus how the objects are interacted with continues to be debated. Neural evidence in humans and nonhuman primates suggests animate-inanimate and face-body dimensions of objects are represented in the temporal cortex. However, because primates have opposable thumbs and interact with objects in similar ways, the question remains as to whether this similarity represents the evolution of a common cognitive process or whether it reflects a similarity of physical interaction. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in dogs to test whether the type of interaction affects object processing in an animal that interacts primarily with its mouth. In Study 1, we identified object-processing regions of cortex by having dogs passively view movies of faces and objects. In Study 2, dogs were trained to interact with two new objects with either the mouth or the paw. Then, we measured responsivity in the object regions to the presentation of these objects. Mouth-objects elicited significantly greater activity in object regions than paw-objects. Mouth-objects were also associated with activity in somatosensory cortex, suggesting dogs were anticipating mouthing interactions. These findings suggest that object perception in dogs is affected by how dogs expect to interact with familiar objects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley Prichard
- Psychology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | | | | | - Veronica Chiu
- Psychology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Mark Spivak
- Comprehensive Pet Therapy, Inc., Sandy Springs, Georgia, USA
| | - Gregory S Berns
- Psychology Department, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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49
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Bean NL, Stein BE, Rowland BA. Stimulus value gates multisensory integration. Eur J Neurosci 2021; 53:3142-3159. [PMID: 33667027 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Revised: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The brain enhances its perceptual and behavioral decisions by integrating information from its multiple senses in what are believed to be optimal ways. This phenomenon of "multisensory integration" appears to be pre-conscious, effortless, and highly efficient. The present experiments examined whether experience could modify this seemingly automatic process. Cats were trained in a localization task in which congruent pairs of auditory-visual stimuli are normally integrated to enhance detection and orientation/approach performance. Consistent with the results of previous studies, animals more reliably detected and approached cross-modal pairs than their modality-specific component stimuli, regardless of whether the pairings were novel or familiar. However, when provided evidence that one of the modality-specific component stimuli had no value (it was not rewarded) animals ceased integrating it with other cues, and it lost its previous ability to enhance approach behaviors. Cross-modal pairings involving that stimulus failed to elicit enhanced responses even when the paired stimuli were congruent and mutually informative. However, the stimulus regained its ability to enhance responses when it was associated with reward. This suggests that experience can selectively block access of stimuli (i.e., filter inputs) to the multisensory computation. Because this filtering process results in the loss of useful information, its operation and behavioral consequences are not optimal. Nevertheless, the process can be of substantial value in natural environments, rich in dynamic stimuli, by using experience to minimize the impact of stimuli unlikely to be of biological significance, and reducing the complexity of the problem of matching signals across the senses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi L Bean
- Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Barry E Stein
- Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
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50
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Kim AJ, Lee DS, Anderson BA. Previously reward-associated sounds interfere with goal-directed auditory processing. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2021; 74:1257-1263. [PMID: 33438522 DOI: 10.1177/1747021821990033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Previously reward-associated stimuli have consistently been shown to involuntarily capture attention in the visual domain. Although previously reward-associated but currently task-irrelevant sounds have also been shown to interfere with visual processing, it remains unclear whether such stimuli can interfere with the processing of task-relevant auditory information. To address this question, we modified a dichotic listening task to measure interference from task-irrelevant but previously reward-associated sounds. In a training phase, participants were simultaneously presented with a spoken letter and number in different auditory streams and learned to associate the correct identification of each of three letters with high, low, and no monetary reward, respectively. In a subsequent test phase, participants were again presented with the same auditory stimuli but were instead instructed to report the number while ignoring spoken letters. In both the training and test phases, response time measures demonstrated that attention was biased in favour of the auditory stimulus associated with high value. Our findings demonstrate that attention can be biased towards learned reward cues in the auditory domain, interfering with goal-directed auditory processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy J Kim
- Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - David S Lee
- Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Brian A Anderson
- Texas A&M Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
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