Max Planck Institute for Human Development, D-14195 Berlin, Germany.
J Neurosci. 2013 Feb 27;33(9):3939-52. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4151-12.2013.
Perceptual decision making is the process by which information from sensory systems is combined and used to influence our behavior. In addition to the sensory input, this process can be affected by other factors, such as reward and punishment for correct and incorrect responses. To investigate the temporal dynamics of how monetary punishment influences perceptual decision making in humans, we collected electroencephalography (EEG) data during a perceptual categorization task whereby the punishment level for incorrect responses was parametrically manipulated across blocks of trials. Behaviorally, we observed improved accuracy for high relative to low punishment levels. Using multivariate linear discriminant analysis of the EEG, we identified multiple punishment-induced discriminating components with spatially distinct scalp topographies. Compared with components related to sensory evidence, components discriminating punishment levels appeared later in the trial, suggesting that punishment affects primarily late postsensory, decision-related processing. Crucially, the amplitude of these punishment components across participants was predictive of the size of the behavioral improvements induced by punishment. Finally, trial-by-trial changes in prestimulus oscillatory activity in the alpha and gamma bands were good predictors of the amplitude of these components. We discuss these findings in the context of increased motivation/attention, resulting from increases in punishment, which in turn yields improved decision-related processing.
知觉决策是一个信息从感觉系统中被整合并用来影响我们行为的过程。除了感觉输入，这个过程还可以受到其他因素的影响，例如对正确和错误反应的奖励和惩罚。为了研究金钱惩罚如何影响人类的知觉决策的时间动态，我们在一个知觉分类任务中收集了脑电图（EEG）数据，在这个任务中，错误反应的惩罚水平在试验块中被参数化地操纵。在行为上，我们观察到高相对低惩罚水平下的准确性提高。使用 EEG 的多元线性判别分析，我们确定了多个具有空间上不同头皮拓扑的惩罚诱导的辨别成分。与与感官证据相关的成分相比，区分惩罚水平的成分在试验中出现较晚，这表明惩罚主要影响后期的感官后、决策相关的处理。至关重要的是，这些惩罚成分在参与者之间的幅度可以预测惩罚引起的行为改善的大小。最后，在 alpha 和 gamma 频带中，刺激前的振荡活动的逐次变化是这些成分幅度的良好预测指标。我们在增加惩罚导致的动机/注意力增加的背景下讨论这些发现，这反过来又提高了决策相关的处理。
