Past neuroscience research has identified patterns in neural activity typically observed when humans are engaged in value-based decision-making. This is the process through which humans choose between options that could be linked to different costs and rewards, weighing their options carefully based on their own preferences, goals and expectations. Researchers at Brown University and University of Birmingham recently carried out a study aimed at further elucidating neural signatures of value-based decision-making uncovered in previous papers, which closely resemble those underpinning the accumulation of evidence believed to precede choice .
Their findings, published in Nature Human Behaviour , suggest that in this context these signatures are not actually linked to evidence accumulation, but instead reflect choice-independent processes. "Our study was inspired by the intuition that when we make decisions, we often do not only compare our options, but we also feel certain ways about them," Dr. Romy Froemer, first author of the paper, told Medical Xpress.
"For instance, when we get to choose among some great options, like when I get to pick from tasty looking breakfast options at this amazing vegan place I discovered in Ghent earlier this summer, we don't just think about which one is better. "We also think how great all these options are. This feels very different to the case when all the options are not that great, like when I consider the packaged sandwiches that they sell f.