scholarly journals Base-rate neglect and neural computations for subjective weight in probabilistic inference

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun-Yen Yang ◽  
Shih-Wei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Base Rate ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Base Rate Neglect ◽  
Subjective Weight ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
The Brain

AbstractHumans show systematic biases when estimating probability of uncertain events. Base-rate neglect is a well-known bias that describes the tendency to underweight information from the past relative to the present. In this study, we characterized base-rate neglect at the computational and neural implementation levels. At the computational level, we established that base-rate neglect arises from insufficient adjustment to weighting prior information in response to changes in prior variability. At the neural implementation level, we found that orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) represent subjective weighting of information that reflects base-rate neglect. Critically, both subjective-weight and subjective-value signals that guide choice were found in mPFC. However, subjective-weight signals preceded subjective-value signals. These results indicate that when facing multiple sources of information, estimation bias such as base-rate neglect arises from information weighting computed in OFC and mPFC, which directly contributes to subjective-value computations that guide decisions under uncertainty.Significance StatementFacing uncertainty, estimating the probability of different potential outcomes carries significant weight in affecting how we act and decide. Decades of research show that humans are prone to giving biased estimation but it remains elusive how these biases arise in the brain. We focus on base-rate neglect, a well-known bias in probability estimation and find that it is tightly associated with activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex. These regions represent the degree to which human participants weigh different sources of information, suggesting that base-rate neglect arises from information-weighting computations in the brain. As technology provides us the opportunity to seek and gather information at an ever-increasing pace, understanding information-weighting and its biases also carry important policy implications.

scholarly journals Base rate neglect and neural computations for subjective weight in decision under uncertainty

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (29) ◽  
pp. 16908-16919
Author(s):  
Yun-Yen Yang ◽  
Shih-Wei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Relative Sensitivity ◽  
Base Rate ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Decision Under Uncertainty ◽  
Base Rate Neglect ◽  
Subjective Weight ◽  
Reward Probability ◽  
Neural Computations ◽  
The Individual

Base rate neglect, an important bias in estimating probability of uncertain events, describes humans’ tendency to underweight base rate (prior) relative to individuating information (likelihood). However, the neural mechanisms that give rise to this bias remain elusive. In this study, subjects chose between uncertain prospects where estimating reward probability was essential. We found that when the variability of prior and likelihood information about reward probability were systematically manipulated, prior variability significantly affected the degree to which subjects underweight the base rate of reward probability. Activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and putamen represented the relative subjective weight that reflected such bias. Further, sensitivity to likelihood relative to prior variability in the putamen correlated with individuals’ overall tendency to underweight base rate. These findings suggest that in combining prior and likelihood, relative sensitivity to information variability and subjective-weight computations critically contribute to the individual heterogeneity in base rate neglect.

scholarly journals Cultural variation in the gray matter volume of the prefrontal cortex is moderated by the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4)

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 3922-3931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinggang Yu ◽  
Nobuhito Abe ◽  
Anthony King ◽  
Carolyn Yoon ◽  
Israel Liberzon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Receptor Gene ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Dopamine D4 Receptor ◽  
East Asians ◽  
European Americans ◽  
The Difference ◽  
D4 Receptor ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Recent evidence suggests a systematic cultural difference in the volume/thickness of prefrontal regions of the brain. However, origins of this difference remain unclear. Here, we addressed this gap by adopting a unique genetic approach. People who carry the 7- or 2-repeat (7/2-R) allele of the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) are more sensitive to environmental influences, including cultural influences. Therefore, if the difference in brain structure is due to cultural influences, it should be moderated by DRD4. We recruited 132 young adults (both European Americans and Asian-born East Asians). Voxel-based morphometry showed that gray matter (GM) volume of the medial prefrontal cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex was significantly greater among European Americans than among East Asians. Moreover, the difference in GM volume was significantly more pronounced among carriers of the 7/2-R allele of DRD4 than among non-carriers. This pattern was robust in an alternative measure assessing cortical thickness. A further exploratory analysis showed that among East Asian carriers, the number of years spent in the U.S. predicted increased GM volume in the orbitofrontal cortex. The present evidence is consistent with a view that culture shapes the brain by mobilizing epigenetic pathways that are gradually established through socialization and enculturation.

scholarly journals Subjective value and decision entropy are jointly encoded by aligned gradients across the human brain

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Bobadilla-Suarez ◽  
Olivia Guest ◽  
Bradley C. Love
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Retrospective Evaluation ◽  
Systematic Fashion ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
Fmri Analysis ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Brain

AbstractRecent work has considered the relationship between value and confidence in both behavior and neural representation. Here we evaluated whether the brain organizes value and confidence signals in a systematic fashion that reflects the overall desirability of options. If so, regions that respond to either increases or decreases in both value and confidence should be widespread. We strongly confirmed these predictions through a model-based fMRI analysis of a mixed gambles task that assessed subjective value (SV) and inverse decision entropy (iDE), which is related to confidence. Purported value areas more strongly signalled iDE than SV, underscoring how intertwined value and confidence are. A gradient tied to the desirability of actions transitioned from positive SV and iDE in ventromedial prefrontal cortex to negative SV and iDE in dorsal medial prefrontal cortex. This alignment of SV and iDE signals could support retrospective evaluation to guide learning and subsequent decisions.

Laser technique for anatomical-functional study of the medial prefrontal cortex of the brain

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Sanchez-Huerta ◽  
Adan Hernandez ◽  
Griselda Ayala ◽  
Javier Marroquin ◽  
Adriana B. Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Functional Study ◽  
Laser Technique ◽  
The Brain

scholarly journals Choice-dependent cross-modal interaction in the medial prefrontal cortex of rats

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengyao Zheng ◽  
Jinghong Xu ◽  
Les Keniston ◽  
Jing Wu ◽  
Song Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Simultaneous Presentation ◽  
Enhancement Effect ◽  
Modal Interaction ◽  
Visual Cue ◽  
Neural Activities ◽  
Forced Choice Tasks ◽  
Choice Tasks ◽  
The Brain

Abstract Cross-modal interaction (CMI) could significantly influence the perceptional or decision-making process in many circumstances. However, it remains poorly understood what integrative strategies are employed by the brain to deal with different task contexts. To explore it, we examined neural activities of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of rats performing cue-guided two-alternative forced-choice tasks. In a task requiring rats to discriminate stimuli based on auditory cue, the simultaneous presentation of an uninformative visual cue substantially strengthened mPFC neurons' capability of auditory discrimination mainly through enhancing the response to the preferred cue. Doing this also increased the number of neurons revealing a cue preference. If the task was changed slightly and a visual cue, like the auditory, denoted a specific behavioral direction, mPFC neurons frequently showed a different CMI pattern with an effect of cross-modal enhancement best evoked in information-congruent multisensory trials. In a choice free task, however, the majority of neurons failed to show a cross-modal enhancement effect and cue preference. These results indicate that CMI at the neuronal level is context-dependent in a way that differs from what has been shown in previous studies.

scholarly journals Integrating memories: Congruency and reactivation aid memory integration through reinstatement of prior knowledge

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlieke T.R. van Kesteren ◽  
Paul Rignanese ◽  
Pierre G. Gianferrara ◽  
Lydia Krabbendam ◽  
Martijn Meeter
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Prior Knowledge ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Temporal Lobe ◽  
Knowledge Building ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Memory Integration ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Parahippocampal Place Area

AbstractBuilding consistent knowledge schemas that organize information and guide future learning is of great importance in everyday life. Such knowledge building is suggested to occur through reinstatement of prior knowledge during new learning in stimulus-specific brain regions. This process is proposed to yield integration of new with old memories, supported by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and medial temporal lobe (MTL). Possibly as a consequence, congruency of new information with prior knowledge is known to enhance subsequent memory. Yet, it is unknown how reactivation and congruency interact to optimize memory integration processes that lead to knowledge schemas. To investigate this question, we here used an adapted AB-AC inference paradigm in combination with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Participants first studied an AB-association followed by an AC-association, so B (a scene) and C (an object) were indirectly linked through their common association with A (an unknown pseudoword). BC-associations were either congruent or incongruent with prior knowledge (e.g. a bathduck or a hammer in a bathroom), and participants were asked to report subjective reactivation strength for B while learning AC. Behaviorally, both the congruency and reactivation measures enhanced memory integration. In the brain, these behavioral effects related to univariate and multivariate parametric effects of congruency and reactivation on activity patterns in the MTL, mPFC, and Parahippocampal Place Area (PPA). Moreover, mPFC exhibited larger connectivity with the PPA for more congruent associations. These outcomes provide insights into the neural mechanisms underlying memory integration enhancement, which can be important for educational learning.Significance statementHow does our brain build knowledge through integrating information that is learned at different periods in time? This question is important in everyday learning situations such as educational settings. Using an inference paradigm, we here set out to investigate how congruency with, and active reactivation of previously learned information affects memory integration processes in the brain. Both these factors were found to relate to activity in memory-related regions such as the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus. Moreover, activity in the parahippocampal place area (PPA), assumed to reflect reinstatement of the previously learned associate, was found to predict subjective reactivation strength. These results show how we can moderate memory integration processes to enhance subsequent knowledge building.

scholarly journals Schema support for forming inferences in the human brain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Philippe Paulus ◽  
Carlo Vignali ◽  
Marc N Coutanche
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Neural Representations ◽  
Memory Integration ◽  
New Information ◽  
Neural Integration ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Memory Schema ◽  
The Brain

Associative inference, the process of drawing novel links between existing knowledge to rapidly integrate associated information, is supported by the hippocampus and neocortex. Within the neocortex, the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has been implicated in the rapid cortical learning of new information that is congruent with an existing framework of knowledge, or schema. How the brain integrates associations to form inferences, specifically how inferences are represented, is not well understood. In this study, we investigate how the brain uses schemas to facilitate memory integration in an associative inference paradigm (A-B-C-D). We conducted two event-related fMRI experiments in which participants retrieved previously learned direct (AB, BC, CD) and inferred (AC, AD) associations between word pairs for items that are schema congruent or incongruent. Additionally, we investigated how two factors known to affect memory, a delay with sleep, and reward, modulate the neural integration of associations within, and between, schema. Schema congruency was found to benefit the integration of associates, but only when retrieval immediately follows learning. RSA revealed that neural patterns of inferred pairs (AC) in the PHc, mPFC, and posHPC were more similar to their constituents (AB and BC) when the items were schema congruent, suggesting that schema facilitates the assimilation of paired items into a single inferred unit containing all associated elements. Furthermore, a delay with sleep, but not reward, impacted the assimilation of inferred pairs. Our findings reveal that the neural representations of overlapping associations are integrated into novel representations through the support of memory schema.

scholarly journals Proteomic Profiling of Astrocytic O-GlcNAc Transferase-Related Proteins in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Fan ◽  
Qiu-Ling Zhong ◽  
Ran Mo ◽  
Cheng-Lin Lu ◽  
Jing Ren ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Transferase Activity ◽  
Proteomic Profiling ◽  
Major Energy Source ◽  
Altered Proteins ◽  
Glcnac Transferase ◽  
Related Proteins ◽  
The Brain

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), a key part of the brain networks that are closely related to the regulation of behavior, acts as a key regulator in emotion, social cognition, and decision making. Astrocytes are the majority cell type of glial cells, which play a significant role in a number of processes and establish a suitable environment for the functioning of neurons, including the brain energy metabolism. Astrocyte’s dysfunction in the mPFC has been implicated in various neuropsychiatric disorders. Glucose is a major energy source in the brain. In glucose metabolism, part of glucose is used to convert UDP-GlcNAc as a donor molecule for O-GlcNAcylation, which is controlled by a group of enzymes, O-GlcNAc transferase enzyme (OGT), and O-GlcNAcase (OGA). However, the role of O-GlcNAcylation in astrocytes is almost completely unknown. Our research showed that astrocytic OGT could influence the expression of proteins in the mPFC. Most of these altered proteins participate in metabolic processes, transferase activity, and biosynthetic processes. GFAP, an astrocyte maker, was increased after OGT deletion. These results provide a framework for further study on the role of astrocytic OGT/O-GlcNAcylation in the mPFC.

The case against economic values in the orbitofrontal cortex (or anywhere else in the brain)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Hayden ◽  
Yael Niv
Keyword(s):  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Economic Concept ◽  
Free Process ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
Epistemic Constraints ◽  
The Brain

Much of traditional neuroeconomics proceeds from the hypothesis that value is reified in the brain, that is, that there are neurons or brain regions whose responses serve the discrete purpose of encoding value. This hypothesis is supported by the finding that the activity of many neurons covaries with subjective value as estimated in specific tasks and has led to the idea that the primary function of the orbitofrontal cortex is to compute and signal economic value. Here we consider an alternative: that economic value, in the cardinal, common-currency sense, is not represented in the brain and used for choice by default. This idea is motivated by consideration of the economic concept of value, which places important epistemic constraints on our ability to identify its neural basis. It is also motivated by the behavioral economics literature, especially work on heuristics, which proposes value-free process models for much if not all of choice. Finally, it is buoyed by recent neural and behavioral findings regarding how animals and humans learn to choose between options. In light of our hypothesis, we critically reevaluate putative neural evidence for the representation of value and explore an alternative: direct learning of action policies. We delineate how this alternative can provide a robust account of behavior that concords with existing empirical data.

scholarly journals Is value-based choice repetition susceptible to medial frontal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)? A preregistered study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Senftleben ◽  
Johanna Kruse ◽  
Franziska M. Korb ◽  
Stefan Goetz ◽  
Stefan Scherbaum
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Direct Current ◽  
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Interindividual Variability ◽  
Repetition Effects ◽  
Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Subjective Value ◽  
Is Value

AbstractIn value-based decision making, people have to weigh different options based on their subjective value. This process, however, also is influenced by choice biases, such as choice repetition: in a series of choices, people are more likely to repeat their decision than to switch to a different choice. Previously, it was shown that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can affect such choice biases. We applied tDCS over the medial prefrontal cortex to investigate whether tDCS can alter choice repetition in value-based decision making. In a preregistered study, we applied anodal, cathodal, and sham tDCS stimulation to 52 participants. While we found robust choice repetition effects, we did not find support for an effect of tDCS stimulation. We discuss these findings within the larger scope of the tDCS literature and highlight the potential roles of interindividual variability and current density strength.

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