Journal Article

The neural systems that mediate human perceptual decision making

Heekeren, Hauke R., Ungerleider, Leslie G., Marrett, Sean

2008

Overview

Key Points Perceptual decision making is the act of choosing one option or course of action from a set of alternatives on the basis of the available sensory evidence. Findings from monkey physiology experiments have parallels with those from human neuroimaging work. In both species sensory evidence is represented in sensory processing areas, but the accumulation of sensory evidence occurs in decision-making areas that are downstream of the sensory processing areas; these decision-making areas form a decision by comparing outputs from sensory neurons. Candidate decision-making regions in the human brain include the posterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In both monkeys and humans the regions that represent decision variables and perform a comparison are the same as those that select, plan and execute motor responses; they thus include motor and premotor areas. Findings in humans show that there are additional components to the decision-making network. These include a region that translates the decision variable into a response and that is independent of the motor system that executes the response. There is also evidence in humans for a system that detects perceptual uncertainty or difficulty and signals when more attentional resources are required to process a stimulus accurately. Finally, there is evidence in humans for a system that is involved in performance monitoring, which detects when errors occur and when decision strategies need to be adjusted in order to maximize performance. The functional architecture for human perceptual decision making thus consists of separate processes that interact in a heterarchical manner in which at least some of the processes happen in parallel. Heekeren and colleagues review neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies of monkeys and humans making perceptual decisions, highlighting both the similarities and the differences in their decision-making processes and providing a new model for the neural architecture that underlies perceptual decision making in humans. Perceptual decision making is the act of choosing one option or course of action from a set of alternatives on the basis of available sensory evidence. Thus, when we make such decisions, sensory information must be interpreted and translated into behaviour. Neurophysiological work in monkeys performing sensory discriminations, combined with computational modelling, has paved the way for neuroimaging studies that are aimed at understanding decision-related processes in the human brain. Here we review findings from human neuroimaging studies in conjunction with data analysis methods that can directly link decisions and signals in the human brain on a trial-by-trial basis. This leads to a new view about the neural basis of human perceptual decision-making processes.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group
• Subject: Animal Genetics and Genomics / Animals / Behavioral Sciences / Biological and medical sciences / Biological Techniques / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Biomedicine / Brain - physiology / Brain research / Decision making / Decision Making - physiology / Electroencephalography / Eye movements / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / General aspects. Models. Methods / Haplorhini / Humans / Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Magnetoencephalography / Medical imaging / Motor Activity - physiology / Neurobiology / Neuroimaging / Neurophysiology / Neurosciences / Perception - physiology / review-article / Somesthesis and somesthetic pathways (proprioception, exteroception, nociception); interoception; electrolocation. Sensory receptors / Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs