Cited by 107Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesVisual perception and processing mechanismsNeural dynamics and brain function

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Human VMPFC encodes early signatures of confidence in perceptual decisions

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Abstract

Choice confidence, an individual’s internal estimate of judgment accuracy, plays a critical role in adaptive behaviour, yet its neural representations during decision formation remain underexplored. Here, we recorded simultaneous EEG-fMRI while participants performed a direction discrimination task and rated their confidence on each trial. Using multivariate single-trial discriminant analysis of the EEG, we identified a stimulus-independent component encoding confidence, which appeared prior to subjects’ explicit choice and confidence report, and was consistent with a confidence measure predicted by an accumulation-to-bound model of decision-making. Importantly, trial-to-trial variability in this electrophysiologically-derived confidence signal was uniquely associated with fMRI responses in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), a region not typically associated with confidence for perceptual decisions. Furthermore, activity in the VMPFC was functionally coupled with regions of the frontal cortex linked to perceptual decision-making and metacognition. Our results suggest that the VMPFC holds an early confidence representation arising from decision dynamics, preceding and potentially informing metacognitive evaluation.

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Authors
Gherman, S., & Philiastides, M. G.
Affiliations
University of Glasgow (GB)
Corresponding author
Philiastides, Marios G.
Venue
eLife
Published
2018-09-24
Volume
7
ISSN
2050-084X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2952945985
Cited by
107
References
100
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 5
FWCI
5.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • eLife (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Economic and Social Research Council (ES/L012995/1)
  • British Academy (SG121587)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
Keywords
decision confidence, perceptual decision making, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, metacognition, EEG-fMRI, direction discrimination, trial-to-trial variability, frontal cortex
MeSH terms
Metacognition, Adult, Decision Making, Electroencephalography, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Self Concept, Prefrontal Cortex, Young Adult

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