During decision-making, neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) sequentially represent
the value of each option in turn, but it is unclear how these dynamics are translated into a …

… Elston and Bilkey find that the rat anterior cingulate cortex positively modulates the ventral
tegmental area in the theta band (4–12 Hz) when a probabilistic effort component is absent in …

How can we study unobservable cognitive processes that cannot be measured directly? This
has been an enduring challenge for cognitive scientists. In this essay we discuss advances …

… Elston et al. find that the initiation and persistence of non-default behavior are associated
with increases in top-down, ACC-to-VTA signaling. Additionally, the authors show that error-…

There is a growing community of individuals who self-administer the nootropic aniracetam
for its purported cognitive enhancing effects. Aniracetam is believed to be therapeutically …

Background: Animal models of psychiatric diseases suffer from a lack of reliable methods
for accurate assessment of subjective internal states in nonhumans. This gap makes …

Subjective inferences of probability play a critical role in decision-making. How we learn
about choice options, through description or experience, influences how we perceive their …

… aspects of prospect theory with learning-related principles may also offer an interesting
way to explain why the results of the present study partly differ from our prior study (Elston, …

The integration and utilization of feedback in order to determine which decision strategy to
use in different contexts is the core of executive function. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) …

What is good in one scenario might be bad in another. Despite the ubiquity of such contextual
reasoning in everyday choice, how the brain flexibly utilizes different valuation schemes …