Title:

A Neural Circuit for Economic Decisions

Camillo Padoa-Schioppa, PhD

Abstract:

Economic choice entails representing and comparing the subjective values of
individual offers. Neuronal activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is causally
involved in these operations. Furthermore, while animals choose between goods,
different groups of cells in OFC represent pre-decision variables (offer values)
and post-decision variables (chosen good, chosen value). These findings suggest
that the cell groups identified in OFC are the building blocks of a neural circuit
in which economic decisions are formed. However, the anatomical organization
of this circuit, and thus the decision mechanisms, remain poorly understood.
To examine this issue, we recorded from large populations of OFC neurons
while monkeys performed a juice choice task.