The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex computes task-invariant relative subjective value for self and other.

Matthew Piva,Amrita Nair,Ruonan Jia,Kayla Velnoskey,Ifat Levy,Steve W C Chang

doi:10.7554/elife.44939

Abstract

Few studies have addressed the neural computations underlying decisions made for others despite the importance of this ubiquitous behavior. Using participant-specific behavioral modeling with univariate and multivariate fMRI approaches, we investigated the neural correlates of decision-making for self and other in two independent tasks, including intertemporal and risky choice. Modeling subjective valuation indicated that participants distinguished between themselves and others with dissimilar preferences. Activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was consistently modulated by relative subjective value. Multi-voxel pattern analysis indicated that activity in the dmPFC uniquely encoded relative subjective value and generalized across self and other and across both tasks. Furthermore, agent cross-decoding accuracy between self and other in the dmPFC was related to self-reported social attitudes. These findings indicate that the dmPFC emerges as a medial prefrontal node that utilizes a task-invariant mechanism for computing relative subjective value for self and other.

Highlights

Decision-making on behalf of other individuals is ubiquitous in daily life, from parents making decisions about the wellbeing of their children to financial advisors making economic decisions to maximize returns for their clients
These studies have identified neural correlates in the medial prefrontal cortex, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (Kable and Glimcher, 2007; Levy et al, 2010; McClure et al, 2004) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, which is anatomically proximal or overlapping with multiple subregions including the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and pre-supplementary motor area (Kolling et al, 2016; Kolling et al, 2012)
We examined the correlation between social attitude scores and the individual accuracy when training on Self trials and testing on Other trials, and vice versa, in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC)

Summary

Introduction

Decision-making on behalf of other individuals is ubiquitous in daily life, from parents making decisions about the wellbeing of their children to financial advisors making economic decisions to maximize returns for their clients. When the values of two options are preferred, relative subjective value is low, while relative subjective value is high when the values of two options are dissimilarly preferred. We encounter such considerations when we make decisions on behalf of others, much like we do when we make decisions for ourselves. Most previous studies have focused on subjective value in self-referenced decisions. Other studies regarding self-referenced decision-making have focused instead on other decision-related processes, such as conflict, with most

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