A framework for studying the neurobiology of value-based decision making

Abstract

Neuroeconomics is the study of the neurobiological and computational basis of value-based decision making. Its goal is to provide a biologically based account of human behaviour that can be applied in both the natural and the social sciences. This Review proposes a framework to investigate different aspects of the neurobiology of decision making. The framework allows us to bring together recent findings in the field, highlight some of the most important outstanding problems, define a common lexicon that bridges the different disciplines that inform neuroeconomics, and point the way to future applications.

The mentalizing network orchestrates the impact of parochial altruism on social norm enforcement

“…Findings revealed (at P < 0.005, voxel extent threshold: 10 voxels) in good agreements with our hypotheses that the activity in the left TPJ modulates the effective connectivity between the DMPFC and areas of the OFG and rLPFC. In particular, we found that the activity in the left TPJ positively modulates the functional connectivity between the DMPFC and medial areas of the OFG (mOFG; BA 10/11, x ¼ À15, y ¼ 45, z ¼ À9) known to be involved in positive evaluation processes [Kringelbach, 2005;Liu et al, 2007;Rangel et al, 2008]. In stark contrast, activity in the left TPJ negatively modulates the functional connectivity between the DMPFC and lateral areas of the OFG (BA 10/ 11, left: 7A,B; for additional information and illustration please see Supporting Information Discussion S1 and Fig.…”

“…We hypothesize that the mentalizing network might modulate the activity in parts of the punishment network, thus enabling third-parties to implement a reduced punishment behavior for defecting ingroup members. We focused our analysis in particular on the orbitofrontal gyrus because we argue that third-parties observing defecting ingroup members might start a justification process in the mentalizing network, which affects the evaluation process assumed to take place in the OFG [Kringelbach, 2005;Liu et al, 2007;Rangel et al, 2008]. To answer this question, we applied PPI analyses [Friston et al, 1997] using two areas of the mentalizing network as seed regions (DMPFC and left TPJ, see Method section for details).…”

“…Although recent studies have fundamentally improved our knowledge of how the brain modulates norm compliance [Baumgartner et al, 2008[Baumgartner et al, , 2009Delgado et al, 2005;Harbaugh et al, 2007;King-Casas et al, 2005;Rilling et al, 2002;Spitzer et al, 2007] and norm enforcement [Buckholtz et al, 2008;de Quervain et al, 2004;Fehr and Camerer, 2007;Knoch et al, 2006Knoch et al, , 2008Rangel et al, 2008;Sanfey, 2007;Sanfey et al, 2003;Strobel et al, 2011] they do not examine the parochial nature of this phenomena. There is also an important literature examining the neural circuitry of the cognitions involved in the evaluation of faces from distinct races [Cunningham et al, 2004;Golby et al, 2001;Phelps et al, 2000], the judgment of people belonging to other races [Eberhardt, 2005;Freeman et al, 2010;Ito and Bartholow, 2009;Lieberman et al, 2005;Richeson et al, 2003], prejudice [Beer et al, 2008], the evaluation of very poor and ''disgusting'' outgroups such as addicts and beggars in dirty clothes [Harris and Fiske, 2006], and the general evaluation of ingroup-outgroup interactions [Mathur et al, 2010;Van Bavel et al, 2008] but none of the individuals in these studies had to make costly punishment decisions that involved real costs and benefits for themselves or for others.…”

“…If this hypothesis is correct, we would expect a differential activity pattern in those regions of the brain strongly associated with a decision-relevant reflective evaluation process, including in particular ventral and lateral regions of the orbitofrontal gyrus (OFG) [Hare et al, 2009;Kringelbach 2005;Liu et al, 2007;Plassmann et al, 2007;Rangel et al, 2008]. More precisely, there is some evidence for a medial-lateral distinction in the OFG, such that activity in medial areas is related to positive evaluation processes, while activity in lateral areas is related to negative evaluation processes [Kringelbach, 2005;Liu et al, 2007;Rilling et al, 2007;Spitzer et al, 2007].…”

Anterior cingulate cortex involved in social food‐foraging decision‐making strategies of rats

“…Not only social‐based but also value‐based pathways are involved in food‐foraging decision‐making behaviors (Payzan‐LeNestour, Dunne, Bossaerts, & O'Doherty, 2013; Rangel, Camerer, & Montague, 2008; Rilling, King‐Casas, & Sanfey, 2008). Studies have demonstrated that the ACC plays an important role in both social‐based decision‐making (de Araujo et al., 2012; Steinmann et al., 2014) and value‐based decision‐making (Apps & Ramnani, 2014; Massar et al., 2015; Vassena et al., 2014).…”