Making decisions through a distributed consensus

How does the brain decide between actions? Is it through comparisons of abstract representations of outcomes or through a competition in a sensorimotor map defining the actions themselves? Here, I review strengths and limitations of both of these proposals, and suggest that decisions emerge through a distributed consensus across many levels of representation.

► This article compares alternative models for how the brain may decide between actions. ► Classical models suggest that all decisions are made through comparison of abstract representations of value. ► Natural behavior demands that decisions between actions take sensorimotor contingencies into account. ► Neural evidence is compatible with a model in which decisions emerge as a distributed consensus across multiple levels of representation.