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The Journal of Neuroscience, November 1, 2006, 26(44):11379-11386; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1640-06.2006

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Choosing the Lesser of Two Evils, the Better of Two Goods: Specifying the Roles of Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex and Dorsal Anterior Cingulate in Object Choice

Karina Blair,¹ Abigail A. Marsh,¹ John Morton,² Meena Vythilingam,¹ Matthew Jones,¹ Krystal Mondillo,¹ Daniel C. Pine,¹ Wayne C. Drevets,¹ and James R. Blair¹

¹Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-2670, and ²Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1X 8EE, United Kingdom

Correspondence should be addressed to Karina Blair, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, 15K North Drive, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MD 20892. Email: blairka{at}mail.nih.gov

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and dorsal anterior cingulate cortices (ACd) are considered important for reward-based decision making. However, work distinguishing their individual functional contributions has only begun. One aspect of decision making that has received little attention is that making the right choice often translates to making the better choice. Thus, response choice often occurs in situations where both options are desirable (e.g., choosing between mousse au chocolat or crème caramel cheesecake from a menu) or, alternatively, in situations where both options are undesirable. Moreover, response choice is easier when the reinforcements associated with the objects are far apart, rather than close together, in value. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to delineate the functional roles of the vmPFC and ACd by investigating these two aspects of decision making: (1) decision form (i.e., choosing between two objects to gain the greater reward or the lesser punishment), and (2) between-object reinforcement distance (i.e., the difference in reinforcements associated with the two objects). Blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses within the ACd and vmPFC were both related to decision form but differentially. Whereas ACd showed greater responses when deciding between objects to gain the lesser punishment, vmPFC showed greater responses when deciding between objects to gain the greater reward. Moreover, vmPFC was sensitive to reinforcement expectations associated with both the chosen and the forgone choice. In contrast, BOLD responses within ACd, but not vmPFC, related to between-object reinforcement distance, increasing as the distance between the reinforcements of the two objects decreased. These data are interpreted with reference to models of ACd and vmPFC functioning.

Key words: decision; fMRI; reward; punishment; vmPFC; ACd

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Received April 17, 2006; revised Aug. 28, 2006; accepted Sept. 19, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Karina Blair, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health, 15K North Drive, MSC 2670, Bethesda, MD 20892. Email: blairka{at}mail.nih.gov

Related articles in J. Neurosci.:

The Best of a Bad Bunch: The Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex and Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex in Decision-Making

Thomas G. Campbell
J. Neurosci. 2007 27: 447-448. [Full Text]  

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