CiteULike: klouie's Stuphorn

Neuroeconomics: cardinal utility in the orbitofrontal cortex?

V Stuphorn — 2006-09-12T18:59:31-00:00

Curr Biol, Vol. 16, No. 15. (8 August 2006)

Modern economics no longer uses the concept of cardinal utility, which describes the value of a good independently of a comparison with another good. New electrophysiological recordings in primates performing economic choices suggest a neurological substrate for cardinal utility, a finding that economists should perhaps take note of.

Performance monitoring by the supplementary eye field.

V Stuphorn — 2005-02-08T00:33:40-00:00

Nature, Vol. 408, No. 6814. (14 December 2000), pp. 857-860.

Intelligent behaviour requires self-control based on the consequences of actions. The countermanding task is designed to study self-control; it requires subjects to withhold planned movements in response to an imperative stop signal, which they can do with varying success. In humans, the medial frontal cortex has been implicated in the supervisory control of action. In monkeys, the supplementary eye field in the dorsomedial frontal cortex is involved in producing eye movements, but its precise function has not been clarified. To investigate the role of the supplementary eye field in the control of eye movements, we recorded neural activity in macaque monkeys trained to perform an eye movement countermanding task. Distinct groups of neurons were active after errors, after successful withholding of a partially prepared movement, or in association with reinforcement. These three forms of activation could not be explained by sensory or motor factors. Our results lead us to put forward the hypothesis that the supplementary eye field contributes to monitoring the context and consequences of eye movements.

Performance monitoring by the anterior cingulate cortex during saccade countermanding.

S Ito — 2005-02-08T00:30:54-00:00

Science, Vol. 302, No. 5642. (3 October 2003), pp. 120-122.

Consensus is emerging that the medial frontal lobe of the brain is involved in monitoring performance, but precisely what is monitored remains unclear. A saccade-countermanding task affords an experimental dissociation of neural signals of error, reinforcement, and conflict. Single-unit activity was monitored in the anterior cingulate cortex of monkeys performing this task. Neurons that signaled errors were found, half of which responded to the omission of earned reinforcement. A further diversity of neurons signaled earned or unexpected reinforcement. No neurons signaled the form of conflict engendered by interruption of saccade preparation produced in this task. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the anterior cingulate cortex monitors the consequences of actions.