Abstract
Optimal decision-making requires balancing fast but error-prone and more accurate but slower decisions through adjustments of decision thresholds. Here, we demonstrate two distinct correlates of such speed-accuracy adjustments by recording subthalamic nucleus (STN) activity and electroencephalography in 11 Parkinson's disease patients during a perceptual decision-making task; STN low-frequency oscillatory (LFO) activity (2-8 Hz), coupled to activity at prefrontal electrode Fz, and STN beta activity (13-30 Hz) coupled to electrodes C3/C4 close to motor cortex. These two correlates differed not only in their cortical topography and spectral characteristics but also in the relative timing of recruitment and in their precise relationship with decision thresholds. Increases of STN LFO power preceding the response predicted increased thresholds only after accuracy instructions, while cue-induced reductions of STN beta power decreased thresholds irrespective of instructions. These findings indicate that distinct neural mechanisms determine whether a decision will be made in haste or with caution.
Highlights
Fast decisions come at the cost of reduced accuracy
These two networks differed in their cortical topography, relative timing of recruitment and spectral characteristics as well as in their precise relationship with decision thresholds
We found that subthalamic nucleus (STN) low-frequency oscillatory (LFO) power was increased prior to the response after speed compared to accuracy instructions
Summary
Fast decisions come at the cost of reduced accuracy This elementary aspect of decision-making, often referred to as speed-accuracy trade-off, has been studied for over a century (for a review see Heitz, 2014) and can be observed in a multitude of tasks and across various species including rats, non-human primates and humans (Bogacz et al, 2010; Forstmann et al, 2010, 2008; Hanks et al, 2014; Heitz and Schall, 2012; Ivanoff et al, 2008; Ratcliff and McKoon, 2008, 1998; Reinagel, 2013; Schouten and Bekker, 1967; Thura and Cisek, 2016; van Veen et al, 2008; Wickelgren, 1977). Speed-accuracy adjustments can be implemented by elevating or lowering the ‘decision threshold’, that is, a criterion which defines when the continuous accumulation of evidence
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