Paper Info
Title
The human amygdala encodes value and space during decision making.
Abstract
Valuable stimuli are invariably localized in space. While our knowledge regarding the neural networks supporting value assignment and comparisons is considerable, we lack a basic understanding of how the human brain integrates motivational and spatial information. The amygdala is a key structure for learning and maintaining the value of sensory stimuli and a recent non-human primate study provided initial evidence that it also acts to integrate value with spatial location, a question we address here in a human setting. We measured haemodynamic responses (fMRI) in amygdala while manipulating the value and spatial configuration of stimuli in a simple stimulus–reward task. Subjects responded significantly faster and showed greater amygdala activation when a reward was dependent on a spatial specific response, compared to when a reward required less spatial specificity. Supplemental analysis supported this spatial specificity by demonstrating that the pattern of amygdala activity varied based on whether subjects responded to a motivational target presented in the ipsilateral or contralateral visual space. Our data show that the human amygdala integrates information about space and value, an integration of likely importance for assigning cognitive resources towards highly valuable stimuli in our environment.
Year
DOI
Venue
2014
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.07.055
NeuroImage
Keywords
Field
DocType
Amygdala,Anterior cingulate cortex,Value,Emotion,Spatial coding,fMRI
Brain mapping,Cognitive resource theory,Visual space,Developmental psychology,Neuroscience,Psychology,Cognitive psychology,Human brain,Amygdala,Anterior cingulate cortex,Stimulus (physiology),Sensory system
Journal
Volume
ISSN
Citations 
101
1053-8119
2
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.38
6
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Olga Therese Ousdal161.06
Karsten Specht218121.13
Andres Server361.40
Ole A Andreassen4196.23
Raymond J Dolan541949.74
Jimmy Jensen661.40