# The Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Context-Dependent Valuation and Decision Processes

> **NIH NIH R01** · BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS) · 2024 · $656,311

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Decisions in complex environments rely on context-sensitive processes for estimating the subjective value of
available alternatives. A course of action that would be beneficial in one context might be disadvantageous in
another. Context has an especially pronounced impact on how time and delay factor into decisions, with
different levels of patience favored in different environments. Understanding the normative cognitive and neural
mechanisms that support context-appropriate calibration of decision processes is a critical step toward
understanding the seemingly impulsive or dysregulated decisions that occur in mental health conditions.
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is thought to contribute to integrative, context-sensitive estimates of
subjective value via interactions with brain systems involved in memory, motivation, and time estimation.
However, person-to-person variability in the anatomy and functional topography of vmPFC has limited our
ability to target precise and meaningful cortical subregions in mechanistic studies of its normative role or in
studies of clinical populations. The present project seeks to identify and characterize individual-level cortical
subregions engaged during value-based decisions that require event-specific integration of temporal and
contextual information. The project is a collaboration among investigators with expertise using neuroimaging
and computational methods to study value-based decision making, context representation, and memory. Aim 1
will use a foraging-like experimental paradigm in which the value of engaging with a distinctive item depends
on an episodic assessment of how recently it was previously encountered, with either recent (“fresh”) or non-
recent (“ripe”) items having greater reward value in different contexts. We will use multi-session fMRI with a
vmPFC-optimized acquisition protocol to identify individual-specific cortical regions that show activity
modulated by recency-dependent value irrespective of physical item features or recency per se. We
hypothesize that valuation effects will emerge in vmPFC subregions that are reproducible within-individual and
have a systematic profile of functional connectivity with the medial temporal lobe and other brain structures.
Aim 2 will develop a theoretical computational model of cognitive processes for flexibly translating episodic
temporal information into decision value. We will test and refine the model on the basis of behavioral data and
will test for model-predicted representations in our own fMRI data and other existing data sets. Aim 3 will
examine situations in which patterns of context-dependent value must be disengaged and reinstated on the
basis of feedback in a changing environment, and will use fMRI to examine signals associated with contextual
updating in vmPFC and medial temporal lobes. Results from the project will advance our fundamental
understanding of brain processes that support contextually adaptiv...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10838524
- **Project number:** 5R01MH130374-02
- **Recipient organization:** BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)
- **Principal Investigator:** Joseph T. McGuire
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $656,311
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-05-15 → 2028-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10838524

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10838524, The Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Context-Dependent Valuation and Decision Processes (5R01MH130374-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10838524. Licensed CC0.

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