PNAS: Revealing the biological theory behind economic behavior - how does the brain perceive the value and reward of objects?

"Goddess Festival" and "double 11" and other shopping carnivals are in full swing, giving people the illusion that they will lose a lot if they don't buy.and the neuroscience behind this consumption behavior has attracted extensive attention of many scientists.source: researchers from University College London, wikishare, published research in PNAS, revealing how the brain perceives and selects valuable objects, and proposes the subcortical saccadic system, an area of the brain involved in this activity.doi.org/10 1073 / pnas.1906662116 two adult male rhesus monkeys were trained to perform a decision-making task, including acquired or novel stimuli with five discrete values.subjects are free to scan around the screen and use the joystick to make choices.before the free choice session of each day, subjects were required to complete 100 conditional tests (10 times per stimulus) to understand the reward probability and reward range predicted by new stimuli.data analysis showed that there was a value based effect, that is, making choices by comparing the value of objects.then, in order to detect whether fixation is affected by the value of the stimulus, the researchers used an algorithm to detect the rapid saccade caused by stimulation and analyze the eye position data.it was found that the subjects performed a reliable implicit stimulus assessment within ∼ 150 ms after the stimulus started, thus guiding them to gaze at a more valuable stimulus for the first time.the subjects quickly looked at more valuable stimuli. When the options appeared, the monkeys quickly looked at something more valuable and novel, implying a hidden assessment process driving the fixation behavior.although they have a "preference" for novel stimuli, they are not always inclined to choose them.this indicates that there is a mechanism in the brain that controls value oriented selection, and the two are separate.as early as 2016, Dr. Fabian grabenhorst's research team of Cambridge University pointed out in a study in nature that "the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the brain encodes the value of a specific object based on a single neuron, that is, each neuron is stimulated in the process of making economic choices.researchers in London have shown that the value of coding options for prefrontal cortex neurons is crucial for value-based decision-making.in addition, other brain regions: the subcutaneous visual jump system, which consists of the caudate nucleus, the reticular part of the substantia nigra, and the superior colliculus, is a strong candidate system. Neurons in these brain regions quickly receive cortical inputs and can identify the value of stimuli.End