Choice, difficulty, and confidence in the brain
Abstract
To provide a neurobiological basis for understanding decision-making and decision confidence, we describe and analyze a neuronal spiking attractor-based model of decision-making that makes predictions about synaptic and neuronal activity, the fMRI BOLD response, and behavioral choice as a function of the easiness of the decision, and thus decision confidence. The spiking network model predicts probabilistic decision-making with faster and larger neuronal responses on easy versus difficult choices, that is as the discriminability DeltaI between the choices increases, and these and the synaptic currents in turn predict larger BOLD responses as the discriminability increases. Confidence, which increases with discriminability, thus emerges from the firing rates of the decision-making neurons in the choice attractor network. In two fMRI studies, we confirm these predictions by showing that brain areas such as medial prefrontal cortex area 10 implicated in choice decision-making between pleasant stimuli have BOLD activations linearly related to the easiness of both olfactory and warm pleasantness choices. Further, this signature is not found in orbitofrontal cortex areas that represent on a continuous scale the value of the stimuli, but are not implicated in the choice itself. This provides a unifying and fundamental approach to decision-making and decision confidence, and to how spiking-related noise in the brain affects choice, confidence, synaptic and neuronal activity, and fMRI signals.
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Previous studies have reported neural correlates of decision confidence in brain regions associated with a value representation, for example firing rates in rat orbitofrontal cortex and fMRI signal in human vmPFC show graded changes as perceptual decisions become more difficult.
“Previous studies have reported neural correlates of decision confidence in brain regions associated with a value representation. For example, firing rates in rat orbitofrontal cortex7 and fMRI signal in human vmPFC8 show graded changes as perceptual decisions become more difficult.”
From Confidence in value-based choice (2013) · cites this paper as [8]
The response to confidence in vmPFC is not driven by a categorical response to errors.
“Note that we additionally tested and confirmed that the response to confidence is not driven by a categorical response to errors8 (see Supplementary Figure 3).”
From Confidence in value-based choice (2013) · cites this paper as [8]
Previous studies have relied on an object-level framework where confidence is equated with the information that governs the choice process.
“Previous studies have relied on an object-level framework, where confidence is equated with the information that governs the choice process [ 30 – 32 ].”
From Metacognition: computation, biology and function (2012) · cites this paper as [32]
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- Authors
- Rolls, E. T., Grabenhorst, F., & Deco, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Rolls, Edmund T.
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2010-11-01
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 694-706
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2040199946
- Cited by
- 148
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 7.35
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- decision-making, decision confidence, spiking neuron models, discriminability, task difficulty, medial prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, BOLD signal, synaptic noise, neuronal firing rate
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Choice Behavior, Decision Making, gamma-Aminobutyric Acid, Hot Temperature, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Models, Neurological, Oxygen, Psychomotor Performance, Reaction Time, Reward, Smell, Synapses, N-Methylaspartate, Neural Networks, Computer, Prefrontal Cortex, alpha-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic Acid, Electrophysiological Phenomena
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