- Author
- Date
- 11-4-2017
- Title
- Dynamic modulation of decision biases by brainstem arousal systems
- Journal
- eLife
- Volume
- 6
- Article number
- e23232
- Number of pages
- 36
- Document type
- Article
- Faculty
- Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG)
- Institute
- Psychology Research Institute (PsyRes)
- Abstract
-
Decision-makers often arrive at different choices when faced with repeated presentations of the same evidence. Variability of behavior is commonly attributed to noise in the brain's decision-making machinery. We hypothesized that phasic responses of brainstem arousal systems are a significant source of this variability. We tracked pupil responses (a proxy of phasic arousal) during sensory-motor decisions in humans, across different sensory modalities and task protocols. Large pupil responses generally predicted a reduction in decision bias. Using fMRI, we showed that the pupil-linked bias reduction was (i) accompanied by a modulation of choice-encoding pattern signals in parietal and prefrontal cortex and (ii) predicted by phasic, pupil-linked responses of a number of neuromodulatory brainstem centers involved in the control of cortical arousal state, including the noradrenergic locus coeruleus. We conclude that phasic arousal suppresses decision bias on a trial-by-trial basis, thus accounting for a significant component of the variability of choice behavior.
- URL
- go to publisher's site
- Language
- English
- Related dataset
- Data set: Dynamic modulation of decision biases by brainstem arousal systems
- Related dataset
- Data set: Dynamic modulation of decision biases by brainstem arousal systems
- Persistent Identifier
- https://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/3630fae5-247a-4463-8fe7-42a3f54e6a87
- Downloads
-
Dynamic modulation of decision biases by brainstem arousal systems(Final published version)
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