title: Differential representations of prior and likelihood uncertainty in the human brain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Uncertainty shapes our perception of the world and the decisions we make. Two aspects of uncertainty are commonly distinguished: uncertainty in previously acquired knowledge (prior) and uncertainty in current sensory information (likelihood). Previous studies have established that humans can take both types of uncertainty into account, often in a way predicted by Bayesian statistics. However, the neural representations underlying these parameters remain poorly understood.
  
  
  RESULTS
  By varying prior and likelihood uncertainty in a decision-making task while performing neuroimaging in humans, we found that prior and likelihood uncertainty had quite distinct representations. Whereas likelihood uncertainty activated brain regions along the early stages of the visuomotor pathway, representations of prior uncertainty were identified in specialized brain areas outside this pathway, including putamen, amygdala, insula, and orbitofrontal cortex. Furthermore, the magnitude of brain activity in the putamen predicted individuals' personal tendencies to rely more on either prior or current information.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest different pathways by which prior and likelihood uncertainty map onto the human brain and provide a potential neural correlate for higher reliance on current or prior knowledge. Overall, these findings offer insights into the neural pathways that may allow humans to make decisions close to the optimal defined by a Bayesian statistical framework.
authors: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. iris-vilares@northwestern.edu
authors: Iris
authors: I
authors: Vilares
authors: James D
authors: JD
authors: Howard
authors: Hugo L
authors: HL
authors: Fernandes
authors: Jay A
authors: JA
authors: Gottfried
authors: Konrad P
authors: KP
authors: Kording
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003071:Cognition; D003657:Decision Making; D004525:Efferent Pathways; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways; D059906:Neuroimaging; D010465:Perception; D035501:Uncertainty; D055815:Young Adult