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The Journal of Neuroscience, May 2, 2007, 27(18):4810-4818; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0577-07.2007

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
The Influence of Expected Value on Saccadic Preparation

David M. Milstein and Michael C. Dorris

Department of Physiology, Center for Neuroscience Studies, Canadian Institutes of Health Research Group in Sensory-Motor Neuroscience, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6

Correspondence should be addressed to Michael C. Dorris, Center for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Botterell Hall, Room 440, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. Email: dorrism{at}biomed.queensu.ca

Basing higher-order decisions on expected value (reward probability x reward magnitude) maximizes an agent's accruement of reward over time. The goal of this study was to determine whether the advanced preparation of simple actions reflected the expected value of the potential outcomes. Human subjects were required to direct a saccadic eye movement to a visual target that was presented either to the left or right of a central fixation point on each trial. Expected value was manipulated by adjusting the probability of presenting each target and their associated magnitude of monetary reward across 15 blocks of trials. We found that saccadic reaction times (SRTs) were negatively correlated to the relative expected value of the targets. Occasionally, an irrelevant visual distractor was presented before the target to probe the spatial allocation of saccadic preparation. Distractor-directed errors (oculomotor captures) varied as a function of the relative expected value of, and the distance of distractors from, the potential valued targets. SRTs and oculomotor captures were better correlated to the relative expected value of actions than to reward probability, reward magnitude, or overall motivation. Together, our results suggest that the level and spatial distribution of competitive dynamic neural fields representing saccadic preparation reflect the relative expected value of the potential actions.

Key words: motor planning; reaction time; reward; probability; motivation; dynamic field theory

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Received Dec. 4, 2006; revised March 22, 2007; accepted March 22, 2007.

Correspondence should be addressed to Michael C. Dorris, Center for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Botterell Hall, Room 440, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6. Email: dorrism{at}biomed.queensu.ca

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				R. J. Adam and S. G. Manohar Does Reward Modulate Actions or Bias Attention? J. Neurosci., October 10, 2007; 27(41): 10919 - 10921. [Full Text] [PDF]

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