ABSTRACT
Evaluation often involves integrating dissimilar determinants of value. A brain region can therefore be placed either before or after a presumed evaluation stage by measuring whether responses of its neurons depend simultaneously on multiple determinants of value. A brain region could also, in principle, show partial integration, which would suggest that it occupies a middle position between (pre-evaluative) non-integration and (post-evaluative) full integration. Existing mathematical techniques cannot distinguish full from partial integration and therefore risk misidentifying regional function. Here we use a new Bayesian regression-based approach to analyze responses of neurons in dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) to risky offers. We find that dACC neurons only partially integrate across outcome dimensions, indicating that dACC cannot be assigned to a purely post-evaluative position. Neurons in dACC also show putative signatures of value comparison, suggesting that comparison processes do not require evaluation to be complete to proceed.
Footnotes
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST The authors declare no conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.