Murd Carolina, Moisa Marius, Grueschow Marcus, Polania Rafael, Ruff Christian C
Zurich Center for Neuroeconomics, Department of Economics, University of Zurich, Rämistrasse 71, Zurich, 8006, Switzerland.
Department of Penal Law, School of Law, University of Tartu, Teatri väljak 3, Tallinn, 10143, Estonia.
Sci Rep. 2020 Apr 30;10(1):7317. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64064-7.
Several theories propose that perceptual decision making depends on the gradual accumulation of information that provides evidence in favour of one of the choice-options. The outcome of this temporally extended integration process is thought to be categorized into the 'winning' and 'losing' choice-options for action. Neural correlates of corresponding decision formation processes have been observed in various frontal and parietal brain areas, among them the frontal eye-fields (FEF). However, the specific functional role of the FEFs is debated. Recent studies in humans and rodents provide conflicting accounts, proposing that the FEF either accumulate the choice-relevant information or categorize the outcome of such evidence integration into discrete actions. Here, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on humans to interfere with either left or right FEF activity during different timepoints of perceptual decision-formation. Stimulation of either FEF affected performance only when delivered during information integration but not during subsequent categorical choice. However, the patterns of behavioural changes suggest that the left-FEF contributes to general evidence integration, whereas right-FEF may direct spatial attention to the contralateral hemifield. Taken together, our results indicate an FEF involvement in evidence accumulation but not categorization, and suggest hemispheric lateralization for this function in the human brain.
有几种理论认为，知觉决策取决于信息的逐渐积累，这些信息为其中一个选择选项提供了证据。这个时间上扩展的整合过程的结果被认为被分类为行动的“获胜”和“失败”选择选项。在各种额叶和顶叶脑区，包括额叶眼区（FEF），已经观察到了相应决策形成过程的神经关联。然而，FEF的具体功能作用存在争议。最近在人类和啮齿动物身上的研究提供了相互矛盾的说法，认为FEF要么积累与选择相关的信息，要么将这种证据整合的结果分类为离散的行动。在这里，我们对人类使用经颅磁刺激（TMS），在知觉决策形成的不同时间点干扰左或右FEF的活动。只有在信息整合期间而不是在随后的分类选择期间进行刺激时，对任何一个FEF的刺激才会影响表现。然而，行为变化的模式表明，左FEF有助于一般证据整合，而右FEF可能将空间注意力引向对侧半视野。综上所述，我们的结果表明FEF参与证据积累而非分类，并表明在人类大脑中该功能存在半球侧化。
