Neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex encode economic value
Neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex encode economic value
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DOI：
10.1038/nature04676
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发表时间：
2006-05-11
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Assad, JA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Padoa-Schioppa, C;Assad, JA
经济选择是指个体在众多可供选择的方案中选择一个方案时所观察到的行为。没有本质上“正确”的答案：经济选择取决于主观偏好。这种行为传统上是经济分析的对象（1），也是心理学的主要兴趣（2）。然而，潜在的心理过程和神经元机制还没有很好地理解。人类和动物选择理论（1-3）的基石是“价值”的概念。考虑一下，例如，一只猴子提供了一个葡萄干和一片苹果：行为证据表明，动物通过给两个选项赋值来选择。但是，价值观在大脑中的位置和方式尚不清楚。在这里，我们表明，在经济选择，在眶额皮质（5-18）（OFC）的神经元编码的价值提供和选择的商品。值得注意的是，OFC神经元编码的价值独立于视觉空间因素和运动反应。如果一只猴子在A和B之间做出选择，眶额皮层中的神经元会对这两种商品的价值进行编码，而不管A是在右边，B是在左边，还是相反。这一特征将眶额皮层与其他脑区区分开来，在这些脑区中，价值调节与感觉或运动过程相关的活动（19-25）。我们的研究结果对可能的心理模型具有广泛的影响，表明经济选择本质上是商品之间的选择，而不是行为之间的选择。在这个框架中，OFC中的神经元似乎是一个很好的候选网络，用于经济选择的价值分配。
Economic choice is the behaviour observed when individuals select one among many available options. There is no intrinsically 'correct' answer: economic choice depends on subjective preferences. This behaviour is traditionally the object of economic analysis(1) and is also of primary interest in psychology(2). However, the underlying mental processes and neuronal mechanisms are not well understood. Theories of human and animal choice(1-3) have a cornerstone in the concept of 'value'. Consider, for example, a monkey offered one raisin versus one piece of apple: behavioural evidence suggests that the animal chooses by assigning values to the two options(4). But where and how values are represented in the brain is unclear. Here we show that, during economic choice, neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex(5-18) (OFC) encode the value of offered and chosen goods. Notably, OFC neurons encode value independently of visuospatial factors and motor responses. If a monkey chooses between A and B, neurons in the OFC encode the value of the two goods independently of whether A is presented on the right and B on the left, or vice versa. This trait distinguishes the OFC from other brain areas in which value modulates activity related to sensory or motor processes(19-25). Our results have broad implications for possible psychological models, suggesting that economic choice is essentially choice between goods rather than choice between actions. In this framework, neurons in the OFC seem to be a good candidate network for value assignment underlying economic choice.