Resolution of uncertainty in prefrontal cortex

Making optimal decisions in the face of uncertain or incomplete information arises as a common problem in everyday behavior, but the neural processes underlying this ability remain poorly understood. A typical case is navigation, in which a subject has to search for a known goal from an unknown loca...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 50; no. 5; p. 781
Main Authors: Yoshida, Wako, Ishii, Shin
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States 01.06.2006
Subjects:
Adult
Bayes Theorem
Decision Making - physiology
Female
Goals
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Markov Chains
Models, Neurological
Prefrontal Cortex - physiology
Space Perception - physiology
ISSN:0896-6273
Online Access:Get more information
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Summary:Making optimal decisions in the face of uncertain or incomplete information arises as a common problem in everyday behavior, but the neural processes underlying this ability remain poorly understood. A typical case is navigation, in which a subject has to search for a known goal from an unknown location. Navigating under uncertain conditions requires making decisions on the basis of the current belief about location and updating that belief based on incoming information. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging during a maze navigation task to study neural activity relating to the resolution of uncertainty as subjects make sequential decisions to reach a goal. We show that distinct regions of prefrontal cortex are engaged in specific computational functions that are well described by a Bayesian model of decision making. This permits efficient goal-oriented navigation and provides new insights into decision making by humans.
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ISSN:0896-6273
DOI:10.1016/j.neuron.2006.05.006