Padoa-Schioppa Camillo, Conen Katherine E
Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Economics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Neuron. 2017 Nov 15;96(4):736-754. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.09.031.
Economic choice behavior entails the computation and comparison of subjective values. A central contribution of neuroeconomics has been to show that subjective values are represented explicitly at the neuronal level. With this result at hand, the field has increasingly focused on the difficult question of where in the brain and how exactly subjective values are compared to make a decision. Here, we review a broad range of experimental and theoretical results suggesting that good-based decisions are generated in a neural circuit within the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). The main lines of evidence supporting this proposal include the fact that goal-directed behavior is specifically disrupted by OFC lesions, the fact that different groups of neurons in this area encode the input and the output of the decision process, the fact that activity fluctuations in each of these cell groups correlate with choice variability, and the fact that these groups of neurons are computationally sufficient to generate decisions. Results from other brain regions are consistent with the idea that good-based decisions take place in OFC and indicate that value signals inform a variety of mental functions. We also contrast the present proposal with other leading models for the neural mechanisms of economic decisions. Finally, we indicate open questions and suggest possible directions for future research.
经济选择行为需要对主观价值进行计算和比较。神经经济学的一个核心贡献在于表明主观价值在神经元层面有明确的表征。有了这一成果，该领域越来越关注一个难题，即大脑中的何处以及主观价值究竟如何进行比较以做出决策。在此，我们回顾一系列广泛的实验和理论结果，这些结果表明基于价值的决策是在眶额皮质（OFC）内的一个神经回路中产生的。支持这一观点的主要证据包括：目标导向行为会因眶额皮质损伤而受到特异性破坏；该区域不同组的神经元编码决策过程的输入和输出；这些细胞组中每一组的活动波动都与选择的变异性相关；以及这些神经元组在计算上足以产生决策。来自其他脑区的结果与基于价值的决策发生在眶额皮质的观点一致，并表明价值信号影响多种心理功能。我们还将当前的观点与经济决策神经机制的其他主要模型进行了对比。最后，我们指出了未解决的问题，并为未来研究提出了可能的方向。
