Frontal cortex electrophysiology in reward- and punishment-related feedback processing during advice-guided decision making: An interleaved EEG-DC stimulation study

Miles Wischnewski,Harold Bekkering,Dennis J L G Schutter

doi:10.3758/s13415-018-0566-8

Miles Wischnewski, Harold Bekkering + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-018-0566-8

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Abstract

During decision making, individuals are prone to rely on external cues such as expert advice when the outcome is not known. However, the electrophysiological correlates associated with outcome uncertainty and the use of expert advice are not completely understood. The feedback-related negativity (FRN), P3a, and P3b are event-related brain potentials (ERPs) linked to dissociable stages of feedback and attentional processing during decision making. Even though these ERPs are influenced by both reward- and punishment-related feedback, it remains unclear how extrinsic information during uncertainty modulates these brain potentials. In this study, the effects of advice cues on decision making were investigated in two separate experiments. In the first experiment, electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded in healthy volunteers during a decision-making task in which the participants received reward or punishment feedback preceded by novice, amateur, or expert advice. The results showed that the P3a component was significantly influenced by the subjective predictive value of an advice cue, whereas the FRN and P3b were unaffected by the advice cues. In the second, sham-controlled experiment, cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (ctDCS) was administered in conjunction with EEG in order to explore the direct contributions of the frontal cortex to these brain potentials. Results showed no significant change in either advice-following behavior or decision times. However, ctDCS did decrease FRN amplitudes as compared to sham, with no effect on the P3a or P3b. Together, these findings suggest that advice information may act primarily on attention allocation during feedback processing, whereas the electrophysiological correlates of the detection and updating of internal prediction models are not affected.

Highlights

During decision making, individuals are prone to rely on external cues such as expert advice when the outcome is not known
Electroencephalography (EEG) studies have identified event-related potential (ERP) components that are associated with different stages of feedback processing (Baker & Holroyd, 2011; Cavanagh, Masters, Bath, & Frank, 2014; EnriquezGeppert, Konrad, Pantev, & Huster, 2010)
Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies have supported the importance of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in reward and punishment processing, together with the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and ventral striatum (Beckmann, Johansen-Berg, & Rushworth, 2009; Rogers et al, 2004)

Summary

Introduction

Individuals are prone to rely on external cues such as expert advice when the outcome is not known. CtDCS did decrease FRN amplitudes as compared to sham, with no effect on the P3a or P3b Together, these findings suggest that advice information may act primarily on attention allocation during feedback processing, whereas the electrophysiological correlates of the detection and updating of internal prediction models are not affected. The OFC has been shown to reflect the subjective value of rewards and external information (Padoa-Schioppa & Cai, 2011; Peters & Büchel, 2010) These results indicate that the OFC is involved in processing the subjective valuation of advice cues, in which seemingly more informative cues are associated with increased OFC activity and, increased following behavior (Meshi et al, 2012). In addition to cortical structures, this balance determining the subjective value of a cue has been associated with activity in the ventral striatum (Meshi et al, 2012)

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