# THE ROLE OF PREFRONTAL REGIONS IN ECONOMIC CHOICE AND CHOICE-GUIDED BEHAVIOR

> **NIH NIH R01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $675,298

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Economic choice behavior is specifically disrupted in neurological and mental disorders such as frontotemporal
dementia, major depression, and drug addiction. To shed light on these diseases and to pave the way for
treatments, it is critical to understand the neural underpinnings of this behavior. The past 20 years witnessed
considerable progress. Economic choices are thought to involve two mental stages – subjective values are
assigned to the available options and a decision is made by comparing values. Clinical data, lesion studies,
functional imaging, and neurophysiology link these mental operations to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). In
particular, previous work in my lab examined neuronal activity in the OFC of monkeys choosing between
different juice flavors. We identified different groups of neurons encoding individual offer values, the binary
choice outcome, and the chosen value. These variables capture both the input (offer value) and the output
(chosen juice, chosen value) of the choice process, suggesting that the cell groups identified in OFC constitute
the building blocks of a decision circuit. A series of empirical and computational results support this proposal.
Importantly, current notions come primarily from experiments where subjects made simple binary choices,
similar to that between steak and salmon a person might make when dining in a restaurant. However, real life
decisions are often more complex. For example, in many circumstances, options are defined not by a single
good (e.g., steak vs. salmon) but rather by a good bundle (e.g., steak and potatoes vs. salmon and rice).
Furthermore, most restaurants offer many dishes – not just two. That is, choices often involve more than two
options. Last but not least, choices depend on the internal state of the subject, which can vary. Thus, the same
person dining in the same restaurant might choose different dishes on different nights. The overarching goal of
this proposal is to assess how the decision circuit adapts or reconfigures itself to generate choices in different
behavioral conditions. Neuronal recordings will focus on OFC. In Aim 1, we will examine choices between
bundles. Each bundle will be constituted of 2 juice types (A+B vs. C+D design) that, if chosen, will be delivered
sequentially. In Aim 2, we will examine choices between three options varying on three dimensions (juice type,
quantity, probability). We will alternate binary and trinary choices and examine differences in neuronal activity.
In Aim 3, we will assess how changes in the internal state of the subject shape decisions. We will examine
choices under risk, where the internal state is defined by 3 parameters. Theoretical considerations suggest that
changes in the relative value of the juices reflect changes in circuit connectivity. To test this and other
predictions, we will record from large populations of neurons simultaneously, and we will use network inference
analysis to estimate the effective con...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10999885
- **Project number:** 2R01DA032758-11
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Camillo Padoa-Schioppa
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $675,298
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2012-02-01 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10999885

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10999885, THE ROLE OF PREFRONTAL REGIONS IN ECONOMIC CHOICE AND CHOICE-GUIDED BEHAVIOR (2R01DA032758-11). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10999885. Licensed CC0.

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