Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE

User menu

  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log out
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
    • Special Collections
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
    • Editorial Board
    • ECR Advisory Board
    • Journal Staff
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
    • Accessibility
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
Articles, Systems/Circuits

Single-Neuron Mechanisms Underlying Cost-Benefit Analysis in Frontal Cortex

Takayuki Hosokawa, Steven W. Kennerley, Jennifer Sloan and Jonathan D. Wallis
Journal of Neuroscience 30 October 2013, 33 (44) 17385-17397; https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2221-13.2013
Takayuki Hosokawa
1Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-3190, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Steven W. Kennerley
2Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, WC1N 3BG, England, United Kingdom
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jennifer Sloan
1Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-3190, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Jonathan D. Wallis
1Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720-3190, and
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Effective decision-making requires consideration of costs and benefits. Previous studies have implicated orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in cost-benefit decision-making. Yet controversy remains about whether different decision costs are encoded by different brain areas, and whether single neurons integrate costs and benefits to derive a subjective value estimate for each choice alternative. To address these issues, we trained four subjects to perform delay- and effort-based cost-benefit decisions and recorded neuronal activity in OFC, ACC, DLPFC, and the cingulate motor area (CMA). Although some neurons, mainly in ACC, did exhibit integrated value signals as if performing cost-benefit computations, they were relatively few in number. Instead, the majority of neurons in all areas encoded the decision type; that is whether the subject was required to perform a delay- or effort-based decision. OFC and DLPFC neurons tended to show the largest changes in firing rate for delay- but not effort-based decisions; whereas, the reverse was true for CMA neurons. Only ACC contained neurons modulated by both effort- and delay-based decisions. These findings challenge the idea that OFC calculates an abstract value signal to guide decision-making. Instead, our results suggest that an important function of single PFC neurons is to categorize sensory stimuli based on the consequences predicted by those stimuli.

View Full Text
Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 33 (44)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 33, Issue 44
30 Oct 2013
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Advertising (PDF)
  • Ed Board (PDF)
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Single-Neuron Mechanisms Underlying Cost-Benefit Analysis in Frontal Cortex
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Print
View Full Page PDF
Citation Tools
Single-Neuron Mechanisms Underlying Cost-Benefit Analysis in Frontal Cortex
Takayuki Hosokawa, Steven W. Kennerley, Jennifer Sloan, Jonathan D. Wallis
Journal of Neuroscience 30 October 2013, 33 (44) 17385-17397; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2221-13.2013

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
Single-Neuron Mechanisms Underlying Cost-Benefit Analysis in Frontal Cortex
Takayuki Hosokawa, Steven W. Kennerley, Jennifer Sloan, Jonathan D. Wallis
Journal of Neuroscience 30 October 2013, 33 (44) 17385-17397; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2221-13.2013
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

Articles

  • Memory Retrieval Has a Dynamic Influence on the Maintenance Mechanisms That Are Sensitive to ζ-Inhibitory Peptide (ZIP)
  • Neurophysiological Evidence for a Cortical Contribution to the Wakefulness-Related Drive to Breathe Explaining Hypocapnia-Resistant Ventilation in Humans
  • Monomeric Alpha-Synuclein Exerts a Physiological Role on Brain ATP Synthase
Show more Articles

Systems/Circuits

  • The Neurobiology of Cognitive Fatigue and Its Influence on Effort-Based Choice
  • Specializations in Amygdalar and Hippocampal Innervation of the Primate Nucleus Accumbens Shell
  • PVN–NAc Shell–VP Circuit OT and OTR Neurons Regulate Pair Bonding via D2R and D1R
Show more Systems/Circuits
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Follow SFN on BlueSky
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Notice
  • Contact
  • Accessibility
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2025 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci Online ISSN: 1529-2401

The ideas and opinions expressed in JNeurosci do not necessarily reflect those of SfN or the JNeurosci Editorial Board. Publication of an advertisement or other product mention in JNeurosci should not be construed as an endorsement of the manufacturer’s claims. SfN does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of any material contained in JNeurosci.