Self-control allows humans the patience necessary to maximize reward attainment in the future. Yet it remains elusive when and how the preference to self-controlled choice is formed. We measured brain activity while female and male humans performed an intertemporal choice task in which they first received delayed real liquid rewards (forced-choice trial), and then made a choice between the reward options based on the experiences (free-choice trial). We found that, while subjects were awaiting an upcoming reward in the forced-choice trial, the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC) tracked a dynamic signal reflecting the pleasure of anticipating the future reward. Importantly, this prefrontal signal was specifically observed in selfcontrolled individuals, and moreover, interregional negative coupling between the prefrontal region and the ventral striatum (VS) became stronger in those individuals. During consumption of the liquid rewards, reduced ventral striatal activity predicted self-controlled choices in the subsequent free-choice trials. These results suggest that a well-coordinated prefrontalstriatal mechanism during the reward experience shapes preferences regarding the future self-controlled choice.

Foraging is a fundamental food-seeking behavior in a wide range of species that enables survival in an uncertain world. During foraging, behavioral agents constantly face a trade-off between staying in their current location or exploring another. Despite ethological generality and importance of foraging, it remains unclear how the human brain guides continuous decision in such situations. Here we show that anticipatory activity dynamics in the anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC) and hippocampus underpin foraging for primary rewards. While functional MRI was performed, humans foraged for real liquid rewards available after tens of seconds, and continuous decision during foraging was tracked by a dynamic pattern of brain activity that reflected anticipation of a future reward. When the dynamic anticipatory activity in the aPFC was enhanced, humans remained in their current environment, but when this activity diminished, they explored a new environment. Moreover, the anticipatory activity in the aPFC and hippocampus was associated with distinct decision strategies: aPFC activity was enhanced in humans adopting an exploratory strategy, whereas those remaining stationary showed enhanced activity in the hippocampus. Our results suggest that anticipatory dynamics in the fronto-hippocampal mechanisms underlie continuous decision-making during human foraging.

The Stroop effect is a classical, well-known behavioral phenomenon in humans that refers to robust interference between language and color information. It remains unclear, however, when the interference occurs and how it is resolved in the brain. Here we show that the Stroop effect occurs during perception of color–word stimuli and involves a cross-hemispheric, excitatory–inhibitory loop functionally connecting the lateral prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. Participants performed a Stroop task and a non-verbal control task (which we term the Swimmy task), and made a response vocally or manually. The Stroop effect involved the lateral prefrontal cortex in the left hemisphere and the cerebellum in the right hemisphere, independently of the response type; such lateralization was absent during the Swimmy task, however. Moreover, the prefrontal cortex amplified cerebellar activity, whereas the cerebellum suppressed prefrontal activity. This fronto–cerebellar loop may implement language and cognitive systems that enable goal-directed behavior during perceptual conflicts.

The Stroop effect is a well-known behavioral phenomenon in humans that refers to robust interference between language and color information. Although this effect has long been studied, it remains unclear when the interference occurs and how it is resolved in the brain. By manipulating the verbality of stimulus perception and response generation, here we show that the Stroop effect occurs during perception of color-word stimuli and is resolved by a cross-hemispheric, excitatory-inhibitory functional loop involving the lateral prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. Humans performed a Stroop task and a control task in which the stimulus did not contain verbal information, and made a response either vocally or manually. The resolution of Stroop interference involved the lateral prefrontal cortex in the left hemisphere and the cerebellum in the right hemisphere, independently of whether the response was made vocally or manually. In contrast, such cross-hemispheric lateralization was absent during the non-verbal control task. Moreover, the prefrontal cortex amplified cerebellar activity, whereas the cerebellum suppressed prefrontal activity, and these effects were enhanced during interference resolution. These results suggest that this fronto-cerebellar loop involving language and cognitive systems regulates goal-relevant information to resolve the interference occurring during simultaneous perception of a word and color.

Our preference for a reward depends on the time of delay for its delivery. Here we show that changes in the external environment can manipulate the perceived duration of time, which alters the formation of the choice preference through value signals in the cortical and subcortical brain regions. Humans anticipated a real liquid reward delayed by tens of seconds, during which colors of visually presented panels gradually changed. The color-change delay was perceived as shorter than a control color-constant delay. Interestingly, participants with greater perceptual bias of the delay showed stronger preference for rewards with the color-change delay. The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC) and ventral striatum (VS) showed dynamic neural signatures of value components that were modulated by subjectively perceived duration. Crucially, these effects were specifically observed while a future reward was anticipated, and moreover, the vlPFC activity was weaker in participants with greater bias in the duration perception. These results demonstrate that subjective time experience leads to biased choice preference of delayed rewards, which is regulated by dynamic value signals of future rewards and accurate perception of the external world in the vlPFC-VS systems.