Department for Psychology, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Munich, Germany.
Commun Biol. 2024 Nov 12;7(1):1488. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-07210-5.
A core assumption in decision neuroscience is that individuals decide between options by comparing option-specific subjective reward values. Psychological accounts challenge this view and suggest that decisions are better explained by comparisons between choice attributes than by comparisons between option-specific values, casting doubts on the interpretation of activation in the neural reward system as subjective value signals. Here, we provide neuroimaging and pharmacological evidence that value-related neural activity follows the value comparison strategy employed by an individual on the psychological level. Neural model comparisons reveal that activation in the striatum, rather than generally reflecting attribute-wise or option-wise value comparisons, reflects the value comparison strategy that provides the best explanation for an individual's choice behavior. Strikingly, manipulating activation in the dopaminergic reward system reveals that dopamine antagonism counteracts the engagement in an individual's dominant value comparison strategy. Together, our findings provide evidence for the biological plausibility of psychological accounts of decision making and emphasize the importance of neural model comparisons to prevent misinterpretations of brain activation.
决策神经科学的一个核心假设是，个体通过比较特定选项的主观奖励值来在选项之间做出决策。心理学观点对此提出了挑战，认为决策可以通过选项之间的属性比较而不是选项之间的特定价值比较来更好地解释，这对神经奖励系统中激活的解释作为主观价值信号提出了质疑。在这里，我们提供神经影像学和药理学证据表明，与价值相关的神经活动遵循个体在心理层面上采用的价值比较策略。神经模型比较揭示，纹状体的激活并不是普遍反映属性或选项的价值比较，而是反映了最能解释个体选择行为的价值比较策略。引人注目的是，操纵多巴胺能奖励系统的激活表明，多巴胺拮抗作用会阻碍个体采用其主导的价值比较策略。总之，我们的研究结果为决策的心理学解释提供了生物学上的合理性证据，并强调了神经模型比较的重要性，以防止对大脑激活的误解。
