The DOI matches its Crossref record; 52 of the 52 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Separate neural pathways process different decision costs
Abstract
Behavioral ecologists and economists emphasize that potential costs, as well as rewards, influence decision making. Although neuroscientists assume that frontal areas are central to decision making, the evidence is contradictory and the critical region remains unclear. Here it is shown that frontal lobe contributions to cost-benefit decision making can be understood by positing the existence of two independent systems that make decisions about delay and effort costs. Anterior cingulate cortex lesions affected how much effort rats decided to invest for rewards. Orbitofrontal cortical lesions affected how long rats decided to wait for rewards. The pattern of disruption suggested the deficit could be related to impaired associative learning. Impairments of the two systems may underlie apathetic and impulsive choice patterns in neurological and psychiatric illnesses. Although the existence of two systems is not predicted by economic accounts of decision making, our results suggest that delay and effort may exert distinct influences on decision making.
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“The ACC is required for monitoring and prediction of an action-outcome relationship30,31, by representing various reward-related information, such as reward value and cost of action32–34.”
From Dissociable roles of prefrontal plasticity in decision-making strategy and execution of habitual behavior (2026) · cites this paper as [33]
In the citing paper
“Similar results are seen in rats with lesions of the OFC (Mobini et al., 2002; Rudebeck et al., 2006).”
From Impulsivity, frontal lobes and risk for addiction (2009) · cites this paper as Rudebeck et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“The OFC is thought to moderate impulsive choice (Mobini et al., 2002; Rudebeck et al., 2006), and to represent subjective value during decision-making (Izquierdo et al., 2004; Padoa-Schioppa and Assad, 2006; Roesch and Olson, 2004; Schoenbaum and Roesch, 2005).”
From Impulsivity, frontal lobes and risk for addiction (2009) · cites this paper as Rudebeck et al., 2006
In the citing paper
“In addition, single-unit studies have shown that dACC/dmPFC neurons signal the net value of rewards associated with effort, and the necessity of this region in cost–benefit valuation has been demonstrated by lesion studies that report that inactivation of medial prefrontal cortex impairs an animal’s ability to overcome effort costs [15, 16, 25, 48, 55].”
From Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying subjective valuation of effort costs (2017) · cites this paper as [48]
In the citing paper
“Third, by controlling the temporal parameters of both the cognitive and physical effort tasks, it was possible to eliminate delay discounting as an explanation of choice behaviour [5, 47, 48].”
From Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying subjective valuation of effort costs (2017) · cites this paper as [48]
In the citing paper
“In addition, single-unit studies have shown that dACC/dmPFC neurons signal the net value of rewards associated with effort, and the necessity of this region in cost–benefit valuation has been demonstrated by lesion studies that report that inactivation of medial prefrontal cortex impairs an animal’s ability to overcome effort costs [15, 16, 25, 48, 55].”
From Neurocomputational mechanisms underlying subjective valuation of effort costs (2017) · cites this paper as [48]
Citations
Cites
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On the relationship between emotion and cognition
Pessoa, L. (2008) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2317 · Cited by 2,350
Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms
Andreasen, N. C. (1982) · PsycTESTS Dataset · doi:10.1037/t12696-000 · Cited by 1,888
Impulsivity, compulsivity, and top-down cognitive control
Dalley, J. W., Everitt, B. J., & Robbins, T. W. (2011) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2011.01.020 · Cited by 1,589
Mental fatigue impairs physical performance in humans
Marcora, S., Staiano, W., & Manning, V. (2009) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.91324.2008 · Cited by 1,485
An opportunity cost model of subjective effort and task performance
Kurzban, R., Duckworth, A., Kable, J. W., & Myers, J. (2013) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x12003196 · Cited by 1,381
Metadata
- Authors
- Rudebeck, P. H., Walton, M. E., Smyth, A. N., Bannerman, D. M., & Rushworth, M. F. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Rudebeck, Peter H
- Venue
- Nature Neuroscience
- Published
- 2006-08-20
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1161-1168
- ISSN
- 1097-6256 (ISSN-L)
- 1546-1726
- OpenAlex
- W2136906168
- Cited by
- 580
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 35 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 37 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 13.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature Neuroscience (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust (087736)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- cost-benefit decision making, delay cost, effort cost, anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, frontal lobe lesions, rats, associative learning, impulsive choice, apathy
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Behavior, Animal, Choice Behavior, Frontal Lobe, Learning Disabilities, Male, Motor Activity, Neural Pathways, Reaction Time, Reward, Maze Learning, Rats
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