Graded decisions in the human brain

Tao Xie, Markus Adamek, Hohyun Cho, Matthew A. Adamo, Anthony L. Ritaccio, Jon T. Willie, Peter Brunner () and Jan Kubanek ()
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Tao Xie: Washington University School of Medicine
Markus Adamek: Washington University School of Medicine
Hohyun Cho: Washington University School of Medicine
Matthew A. Adamo: Albany Medical College
Anthony L. Ritaccio: Albany Medical College
Jon T. Willie: Washington University School of Medicine
Peter Brunner: Washington University School of Medicine
Jan Kubanek: University of Utah

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Decision-makers objectively commit to a definitive choice, yet at the subjective level, human decisions appear to be associated with a degree of uncertainty. Whether decisions are definitive (i.e., concluding in all-or-none choices), or whether the underlying representations are graded, remains unclear. To answer this question, we recorded intracranial neural signals directly from the brain while human subjects made perceptual decisions. The recordings revealed that broadband gamma activity reflecting each individual’s decision-making process, ramped up gradually while being graded by the accumulated decision evidence. Crucially, this grading effect persisted throughout the decision process without ever reaching a definite bound at the time of choice. This effect was most prominent in the parietal cortex, a brain region traditionally implicated in decision-making. These results provide neural evidence for a graded decision process in humans and an analog framework for flexible choice behavior.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48342-w

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