title: Anterior cingulate cortex instigates adaptive switches in choice by integrating immediate and delayed components of value in ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
abstract: Actions can lead to an immediate reward or punishment and a complex set of delayed outcomes. Adaptive choice necessitates the brain track and integrate both of these potential consequences. Here, we designed a sequential task whereby the decision to exploit or forego an available offer was contingent on comparing immediate value and a state-dependent future cost of expending a limited resource. Crucially, the dynamics of the task demanded frequent switches in policy based on an online computation of changing delayed consequences. We found that human subjects choose on the basis of a near-optimal integration of immediate reward and delayed consequences, with the latter computed in a prefrontal network. Within this network, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was dynamically coupled to ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) when adaptive switches in choice were required. Our results suggest a choice architecture whereby interactions between ACC and vmPFC underpin an integration of immediate and delayed components of value to support flexible policy switching that accommodates the potential delayed consequences of an action.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom, and Ageing Research Centre, Karolinska Institute, SE-11330 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Economides
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guitart-Masip
authors.forename: Zeb
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kurth-Nelson
authors.forename: Raymond J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Dolan
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D001245:Association Learning; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*; D012201:Reward; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: computational modeling; control; decision-making; fMRI; prefrontal cortex; value