Confirmation bias through selective readout of information encoded in human parietal cortex

Hame Park (), Ayelet Arazi, Bharath Chandra Talluri, Marco Celotto, Stefano Panzeri, Alan A. Stocker and Tobias H. Donner ()
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Hame Park: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Ayelet Arazi: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Bharath Chandra Talluri: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Marco Celotto: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Stefano Panzeri: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
Alan A. Stocker: University of Pennsylvania
Tobias H. Donner: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Abstract Decision-makers often process new evidence selectively, depending on their current beliefs about the world. We asked whether such confirmation biases result from biases in the encoding of sensory evidence in the brain, or alternatively in the utilization of encoded evidence for behavior. Human participants estimated the source of a sequence of visual-spatial evidence samples while we measured cortical population activity with magnetoencephalography. Halfway through the sequence, participants were prompted to judge the more likely source category. We find that processing of subsequent evidence depends on its consistency with the previously chosen category. Evidence encoded in parietal cortex contributes more to the estimation report when that evidence is consistent with the previous choice compared to when it contradicts that choice. Our results indicate that information contradicting pre-existing beliefs has little impact on subsequent behavior, despite being precisely encoded in the brain. This provides room for deliberative control to counteract confirmation biases.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61010-x

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