Uncertainty aversion predicts the neural expansion of semantic representations

Marc-Lluís Vives (), Daantje Bruin, Jeroen M. Baar, Oriel FeldmanHall () and Apoorva Bhandari ()
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Marc-Lluís Vives: Brown University
Daantje Bruin: Brown University
Jeroen M. Baar: Netherlands Institute for Mental Health and Addiction
Oriel FeldmanHall: Brown University
Apoorva Bhandari: Brown University

Nature Human Behaviour, 2023, vol. 7, issue 5, 765-775

Abstract: Abstract Correctly identifying the meaning of a stimulus requires activating the appropriate semantic representation among many alternatives. One way to reduce this uncertainty is to differentiate semantic representations from each other, thereby expanding the semantic space. Here, in four experiments, we test this semantic-expansion hypothesis, finding that uncertainty-averse individuals exhibit increasingly differentiated and separated semantic representations. This effect is mirrored at the neural level, where uncertainty aversion predicts greater distances between activity patterns in the left inferior frontal gyrus when reading words, and enhanced sensitivity to the semantic ambiguity of these words in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Two direct tests of the behavioural consequences of semantic expansion further reveal that uncertainty-averse individuals exhibit reduced semantic interference and poorer generalization. Together, these findings show that the internal structure of our semantic representations acts as an organizing principle to make the world more identifiable.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01561-5

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