Making decisions through a distributed consensus

Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2012 Dec;22(6):927-36. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2012.05.007. Epub 2012 Jun 8.

Abstract

How does the brain decide between actions? Is it through comparisons of abstract representations of outcomes or through a competition in a sensorimotor map defining the actions themselves? Here, I review strengths and limitations of both of these proposals, and suggest that decisions emerge through a distributed consensus across many levels of representation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Behavior / physiology
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiology*
  • Choice Behavior / physiology*
  • Consensus*
  • Decision Making / physiology*
  • Humans
  • Models, Psychological*