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Clairis N, Barakat A, Brochard J, Xin L, Sandi C. A neurometabolic mechanism involving dmPFC/dACC lactate in physical effort-based decision-making. Mol Psychiatry 2024:10.1038/s41380-024-02726-y. [PMID: 39215184 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02726-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2024] [Revised: 08/21/2024] [Accepted: 08/23/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024]
Abstract
Motivation levels vary across individuals, yet the underlying mechanisms driving these differences remain elusive. The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dmPFC/dACC) and the anterior insula (aIns) play crucial roles in effort-based decision-making. Here, we investigate the influence of lactate, a key metabolite involved in energy metabolism and signaling, on decisions involving both physical and mental effort, as well as its effects on neural activation. Using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional MRI in 63 participants, we find that higher lactate levels in the dmPFC/dACC are associated with reduced motivation for physical effort, a relationship mediated by neural activity within this region. Additionally, plasma and dmPFC/dACC lactate levels correlate, suggesting a systemic influence on brain metabolism. Supported by path analysis, our results highlight lactate's role as a modulator of dmPFC/dACC activity, hinting at a neurometabolic mechanism that integrates both peripheral and central metabolic states with brain function in effort-based decision-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Clairis
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Arthur Barakat
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Jules Brochard
- Transdisciplinary Research Areas, Life and Health, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Lijing Xin
- Center for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
- Institute of Physics (IPHYS), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Carmen Sandi
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics, Brain Mind Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
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Ritz H, Shenhav A. Orthogonal neural encoding of targets and distractors supports multivariate cognitive control. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:945-961. [PMID: 38459265 PMCID: PMC11219097 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01826-7] [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: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
The complex challenges of our mental life require us to coordinate multiple forms of neural information processing. Recent behavioural studies have found that people can coordinate multiple forms of attention, but the underlying neural control process remains obscure. We hypothesized that the brain implements multivariate control by independently monitoring feature-specific difficulty and independently prioritizing feature-specific processing. During functional MRI, participants performed a parametric conflict task that separately tags target and distractor processing. Consistent with feature-specific monitoring, univariate analyses revealed spatially segregated encoding of target and distractor difficulty in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Consistent with feature-specific attentional priority, our encoding geometry analysis revealed overlapping but orthogonal representations of target and distractor coherence in the intraparietal sulcus. Coherence representations were mediated by control demands and aligned with both performance and frontoparietal activity, consistent with top-down attention. Together, these findings provide evidence for the neural geometry necessary to coordinate multivariate cognitive control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Harrison Ritz
- Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
| | - Amitai Shenhav
- Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
- Carney Institute for Brain Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
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Clairis N, Pessiglione M. Value Estimation versus Effort Mobilization: A General Dissociation between Ventromedial and Dorsomedial Prefrontal Cortex. J Neurosci 2024; 44:e1176232024. [PMID: 38514180 PMCID: PMC11044108 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1176-23.2024] [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: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Deciding on a course of action requires both an accurate estimation of option values and the right amount of effort invested in deliberation to reach sufficient confidence in the final choice. In a previous study, we have provided evidence, across a series of judgment and choice tasks, for a dissociation between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which would represent option values, and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), which would represent the duration of deliberation. Here, we first replicate this dissociation and extend it to the case of an instrumental learning task, in which 24 human volunteers (13 women) choose between options associated with probabilistic gains and losses. According to fMRI data recorded during decision-making, vmPFC activity reflects the sum of option values generated by a reinforcement learning model and dmPFC activity the deliberation time. To further generalize the role of the dmPFC in mobilizing effort, we then analyze fMRI data recorded in the same participants while they prepare to perform motor and cognitive tasks (squeezing a handgrip or making numerical comparisons) to maximize gains or minimize losses. In both cases, dmPFC activity is associated with the output of an effort regulation model, and not with response time. Taken together, these results strengthen a general theory of behavioral control that implicates the vmPFC in the estimation of option values and the dmPFC in the energization of relevant motor and cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Clairis
- Motivation, Brain and Behavior team, Paris Brain Institute (ICM), Paris 75013, France
- CNRS U7225, Inserm U1127, Sorbonne Université, Paris 75005, France
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics (LGC), Brain Mind Institute (BMI), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne 1004, Switzerland
| | - Mathias Pessiglione
- Motivation, Brain and Behavior team, Paris Brain Institute (ICM), Paris 75013, France
- CNRS U7225, Inserm U1127, Sorbonne Université, Paris 75005, France
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He Q, Liu JL, Eschapasse L, Zagora AK, Brown TI. The neural correlates of memory integration in value-based decision-making during human spatial navigation. Neuropsychologia 2024; 193:108758. [PMID: 38103679 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108758] [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: 05/25/2023] [Revised: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
In daily life, we often make decisions based on relative value of the options, and we often derive these values from segmenting or integrating the outcomes of past episodes in memory. The neural correlates involved in value-based decision-making have been extensively studied in the literature, but few studies have investigated this topic in decisions that require segmenting or integrating episodic memory from related sources, and even fewer studies examine it in the context of spatial navigation. Building on the computational models from our previous studies, the current study investigates the neural substrates involved in decisions that require people either segment or integrate wayfinding outcomes involving different goals, across virtual spatial navigation tasks with differing demands. We find that when decisions require computation of spatial distances for navigation options, but also evaluation of one's prior spatial navigation ability with the task, the estimated value of navigational choices (EV) modulates neural activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal (dmPFC) cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal (vlFPC) cortex. However, superior parietal cortex tracked EV when decision-making tasks only require spatial distance memory but not evaluation of spatial navigation ability. Our findings reveal divergent neural substrates of memory integration in value-based decision-making under different spatial processing demands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiliang He
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.
| | - Jancy Ling Liu
- School of Economics, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
| | - Lou Eschapasse
- School of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
| | - Anna K Zagora
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
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Rybina E, Colosio M, Shestakova A, Klucharev V. Neuromodulation of choice-induced preference changes: the tDCS study of cognitive dissonance. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1104410. [PMID: 38170108 PMCID: PMC10760977 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1104410] [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: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Difficult choices between two equally attractive options result in a cognitive discrepancy between dissonant cognitions such as preferences and actions often followed by a sense of psychological discomfort known as cognitive dissonance. It can lead to changes in the desirability of options: the chosen option becomes more desirable, whereas the rejected option is devalued. Despite the ample experimental evidence to show this effect, the neural mechanisms and timing of such choice-induced preference changes are not fully understood. Methods In this study, we used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to modulate the activity of the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC), which has been associated with conflict monitoring and choice-induced preference changes in neuroimaging studies. Prior to a revised version of Brehm's free-choice paradigm, participants in two experiments underwent cathodal (inhibitory) or anodal (excitatory) tDCS of the pMFC compared to sham (placebo) stimulation prior to the choice phase. Results Our results showed that cathodal tDCS significantly decreased the choice-induced preference change relative to a sham, but only in direct comparisons of rejected options. No significant effect of anodal tDCS in comparison with sham was observed. Discussion This study replicates the general behavioral effect of cognitive dissonance and provide partial support for the theory of the pMFC contribution to choice-related cognitive dissonance and subsequent preference changes, with possible limitations of an under-sampling for the obtained effect size and an asymmetry in the inhibitory-excitatory effects of non-invasive tDCS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Rybina
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, Moscow, Russia
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Clairis N, Lopez-Persem A. Debates on the dorsomedial prefrontal/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex: insights for future research. Brain 2023; 146:4826-4844. [PMID: 37530487 PMCID: PMC10690029 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad263] [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: 02/24/2023] [Revised: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/22/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dmPFC/dACC) is a brain area subject to many theories and debates over its function(s). Even its precise anatomical borders are subject to much controversy. In the past decades, the dmPFC/dACC has been associated with more than 15 different cognitive processes, which sometimes appear quite unrelated (e.g. body perception, cognitive conflict). As a result, understanding what the dmPFC/dACC does has become a real challenge for many neuroscientists. Several theories of this brain area's function(s) have been developed, leading to successive and competitive publications bearing different models, which sometimes contradict each other. During the last two decades, the lively scientific exchanges around the dmPFC/dACC have promoted fruitful research in cognitive neuroscience. In this review, we provide an overview of the anatomy of the dmPFC/dACC, summarize the state of the art of functions that have been associated with this brain area and present the main theories aiming at explaining the dmPFC/dACC function(s). We explore the commonalities and the arguments between the different theories. Finally, we explain what can be learned from these debates for future investigations of the dmPFC/dACC and other brain regions' functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Clairis
- Laboratory of Behavioral Genetics (LGC)- Brain Mind Institute (BMI)- Sciences de la Vie (SV), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alizée Lopez-Persem
- FrontLab, Institut du Cerveau - Paris Brain Institute - ICM, Inserm, CNRS, Sorbonne University, AP HP, Hôpital de la Pitié Salpêtrière, 75013 Paris, France
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Ting CC, Salem-Garcia N, Palminteri S, Engelmann JB, Lebreton M. Neural and computational underpinnings of biased confidence in human reinforcement learning. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6896. [PMID: 37898640 PMCID: PMC10613217 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42589-5] [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: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 10/30/2023] Open
Abstract
While navigating a fundamentally uncertain world, humans and animals constantly evaluate the probability of their decisions, actions or statements being correct. When explicitly elicited, these confidence estimates typically correlates positively with neural activity in a ventromedial-prefrontal (VMPFC) network and negatively in a dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal network. Here, combining fMRI with a reinforcement-learning paradigm, we leverage the fact that humans are more confident in their choices when seeking gains than avoiding losses to reveal a functional dissociation: whereas the dorsal prefrontal network correlates negatively with a condition-specific confidence signal, the VMPFC network positively encodes task-wide confidence signal incorporating the valence-induced bias. Challenging dominant neuro-computational models, we found that decision-related VMPFC activity better correlates with confidence than with option-values inferred from reinforcement-learning models. Altogether, these results identify the VMPFC as a key node in the neuro-computational architecture that builds global feeling-of-confidence signals from latent decision variables and contextual biases during reinforcement-learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chih-Chung Ting
- General Psychology, Universität Hamburg, Von-Melle-Park 11, 20146, Hamburg, Germany.
- CREED, Amsterdam School of Economics (ASE), Universiteit van Amsterdam, Roetersstraat 11, 1018 WB, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Nahuel Salem-Garcia
- Swiss Center for Affective Science, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Chem. des Mines 9, 1202, Genève, Switzerland
| | - Stefano Palminteri
- Département d'Études Cognitives, École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, 29 rue d'Ulm, 75230, Paris cedex 05, France
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Cognitives et Computationnelles, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, 29 rue d'Ulm 75230, Paris cedex 05, France
| | - Jan B Engelmann
- CREED, Amsterdam School of Economics (ASE), Universiteit van Amsterdam, Roetersstraat 11, 1018 WB, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
- The Tinbergen Institute, Gustav Mahlerplein 117, 1082 MS, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
| | - Maël Lebreton
- Swiss Center for Affective Science, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Chem. des Mines 9, 1202, Genève, Switzerland.
- Economics of Human Behavior group, Paris-Jourdan Sciences Économiques UMR8545, Paris School of Economics, 48 Boulevard Jourdan, 75014, Paris, France.
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Seitz RJ, Angel HF, Paloutzian RF, Taves A. Editorial: Credition-An interdisciplinary approach to the nature of beliefs and believing. Front Behav Neurosci 2023; 17:1217648. [PMID: 37288008 PMCID: PMC10242170 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1217648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Rüdiger J. Seitz
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, Centre of Neurology and Neuropsychiatry, LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Hans-Ferdinand Angel
- Institute of Catechetics and Religious Education, Karl Franzens University Graz, Graz, Austria
| | | | - Ann Taves
- Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
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