Skip to main content

Umbrella menu

  • SfN.org
  • eNeuro
  • The Journal of Neuroscience
  • Neuronline
  • BrainFacts.org

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Preparing a Manuscript
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Fees
    • Journal Club
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • SfN.org
  • eNeuro
  • The Journal of Neuroscience
  • Neuronline
  • BrainFacts.org

User menu

  • Log in
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log in
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Preparing a Manuscript
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Fees
    • Journal Club
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
Research Articles, Systems/Circuits

Neuronal Activity in the Primate Amygdala during Economic Choice

Ahmad Jezzini and Camillo Padoa-Schioppa
Journal of Neuroscience 23 December 2019, 0961-19; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0961-19.2019
Ahmad Jezzini
Department of Neuroscience
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Camillo Padoa-Schioppa
Department of NeuroscienceDepartment of EconomicsDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Multiple lines of evidence link economic choices to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), but other brain regions may contribute to the computation and comparison of economic values. A particularly strong candidate is the basolateral amygdala (BLA). Amygdala lesions impair performance in reinforcer devaluation tasks, suggesting that BLA contributes to value computation. Furthermore, previous studies of BLA found neuronal activity consistent with a value representation. Here we recorded from the BLA of two male rhesus macaques choosing between different juices. Offered quantities varied from trial to trial and relative values were inferred from choices. Roughly one third of BLA cells were task-related. Our analyses revealed the presence of three groups of neurons encoding variables offer value, chosen value and chosen juice. In this respect, BLA appeared similar to OFC. The two areas differed for the proportion of neurons in each group, as the fraction of chosen value cells was significantly higher in BLA. Importantly, the activity of these neurons reflected the subjective nature of value. Firing rates in BLA were sustained throughout the trial and maximal after juice delivery. In contrast, firing rates in OFC were phasic and maximal shortly after offer presentation. Our results suggest that BLA supports economic choice and reward expectation.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT

Economic choices rely on the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), but other brain regions may contribute to this behavior. A strong candidate is the basolateral amygdala (BLA). Previous results are consistent with a neuronal representation of value, but BLA's role in economic decisions remains unclear. Here we recorded from monkeys choosing between juices. Neurons in BLA encoded three decision variables: offer value, chosen value and chosen juice. These variables were also identified in OFC. The two areas differed for the proportion of cells encoding each variable and for the activation timing. In OFC, firing rates peaked shortly after offer presentation; in BLA, firing rates were sustained and peaked after juice delivery. These results suggest that BLA supports choices and reward expectation.

Footnotes

  • The authors declare no competing financial interests.

  • We thank Alessandro Livi, Weikang Shi and Manning Zhang for comments on the manuscript. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant number R01-MH104494 to CPS).

Member Log In

Sign in with your SFN login

If you have an SfN.org account and DO NOT know
your username and/or password

If you DO NOT have an SfN membership

Log in through your institution

If your organization uses OpenAthens, you can log in using your OpenAthens username and password. To check if your institution is supported, please see this list. Contact your library for more details.

Pay Per Article - You may access this article (from the computer you are currently using) for 1 day for US$35.00

Regain Access - You can regain access to a recent Pay per Article purchase if your access period has not yet expired.

Back to top
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.
Neuronal Activity in the Primate Amygdala during Economic Choice
(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.
View Full Page PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Citation Tools
Neuronal Activity in the Primate Amygdala during Economic Choice
Ahmad Jezzini, Camillo Padoa-Schioppa
Journal of Neuroscience 23 December 2019, 0961-19; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0961-19.2019

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
Neuronal Activity in the Primate Amygdala during Economic Choice
Ahmad Jezzini, Camillo Padoa-Schioppa
Journal of Neuroscience 23 December 2019, 0961-19; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0961-19.2019
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • 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

Research Articles

  • Cortical and Subcortical Effects of Transcutaneous Spinal Cord Stimulation in Humans with Tetraplegia
  • Robust Rate-Place Coding of Resolved Components in Harmonic and Inharmonic Complex Tones in Auditory Midbrain
  • Context-dependent coding of temporal distance between cinematic events in the human precuneus
Show more Research Articles

Systems/Circuits

  • Robust Rate-Place Coding of Resolved Components in Harmonic and Inharmonic Complex Tones in Auditory Midbrain
  • Computational Mechanisms for Perceptual Stability using Disparity and Motion Parallax
  • Taste Quality Representation in the Human Brain
Show more Systems/Circuits
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • 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 the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Feedback
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2020 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci   Print ISSN: 0270-6474   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.