title: Response repetition biases in human perceptual decisions are explained by activity decay in competitive attractor models.
abstract: Animals and humans have a tendency to repeat recent choices, a phenomenon known as choice hysteresis. The mechanism for this choice bias remains unclear. Using an established, biophysically informed model of a competitive attractor network for decision making, we found that decaying tail activity from the previous trial caused choice hysteresis, especially during difficult trials, and accurately predicted human perceptual choices. In the model, choice variability could be directionally altered through amplification or dampening of post-trial activity decay through simulated depolarizing or hyperpolarizing network stimulation. An analogous intervention using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) yielded a close match between model predictions and experimental results: net soma depolarizing currents increased choice hysteresis, while hyperpolarizing currents suppressed it. Residual activity in competitive attractor networks within dlPFC may thus give rise to biases in perceptual choices, which can be directionally controlled through non-invasive brain stimulation.
authors.affiliation: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: James J
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9165-4082
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Bonaiuto
authors.affiliation: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Archy de
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3460-7172
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berker
authors.affiliation: Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bestmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: choice hysteresis; choice variability; computational neurostimulation; dlPFC; human; neuroscience; perceptual decision making; tDCS