[Abstract Title]. - Society for Neuroscience

Heekeren et al. as supporting an evidence integrator mechanism in posterior superior frontal
sulcus.
Disclosures: S.F. Hillenbrand, None; L.G. Ungerleider , None; K.A. Hansen, None.
Poster
289. Human Decision Making
Time: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Program#/Poster#: 289.9/RR45
Topic: F.01.g. Decision making and reasoning
Title: Neural systems underlying decisions about affective odors
Authors: *E. T. ROLLS, F. GRABENHORST, B. PARRIS;
Dept Exptl. Psychology, Univ. of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Abstract: Decision-making about affective value may occur after the reward value of a stimulus
is represented, and may involve different brain areas to those involved in decision-making about
the physical properties of stimuli, such as intensity (Rolls, 2008). In an fMRI study, we delivered
two odors separated by a delay, with instructions on some trials to decide which odor was more
pleasant, or more intense; and on other trials to rate the pleasantness and intensity of the second
odor without making a decision. The four odors, citral, vanillin, hexanoic acid and isovaleric
acid, were identical on the two types of trial. Activations in the medial prefrontal cortex area 10,
and in regions to which it projects including the anterior cingulate cortex and insula, were higher
when decisions were being made compared to ratings, implicating these regions in decisionmaking.
Decision-making about affective value produced larger effects in the dorsal part of
medial area 10 and the agranular insula, whereas decisions about intensity produced larger
effects in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventral premotor cortex, and anterior insula. For
comparison, the mid-orbitofrontal cortex had activations related to subjective pleasantness
ratings, providing a continuous representation of affective value. Thus the orbitofrontal cortex
represents continuous affective value, and medial prefrontal cortex area 10, and the anterior
cingulate cortex, are implicated in reaching a decision in which a binary outcome is produced.
Rolls,ET (2008) Memory, Attention and Decision-Making. Oxford University Press.
Disclosures: E.T. Rolls , None; F. Grabenhorst, None; B. Parris, None.