Distinct orbitofrontal regions encode stimulus and choice valuation.

Full Abstract

The weak axiom of revealed preferences suggests that the value of an object can be understood through the simple examination of choices. Although this axiom has driven economic theory, the assumption of equation between value and choice is often violated. fMRI was used to decouple the processes associated with evaluating stimuli from evaluating one's actions. Whereas activity in left posterior areas of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) was associated with processing the objective value of stimuli, activity in medial anterior areas of the OFC was associated with accepting high value gambles and rejecting low value gambles; that is, making correct decisions. These data demonstrate that distinct areas of the OFC provide dissociated representations for use in adaptive decision-making and suggest an important processing distinction between the concepts of good/bad and right/wrong.

Author information

Author/s: Cunningham, William A (WA); Kesek, Amanda (A); Mowrer, Samantha M (SM);

Affiliation: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. cunningham.417(-atsign-)osu.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of cognitive neuroscience (J Cogn Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 21 (issue 10) : pp 1956-66

Dates: Created 2009/08/24; Completed 2009/10/29;

PMID: 18855544, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/29/2009, IMS Date: )

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