Heterogeneous Coding of Temporally Discounted Values in the Dorsal and Ventral Striatum during Intertemporal Choice

SummaryIn choosing between different rewards expected after unequal delays, humans and animals often prefer the smaller but more immediate reward, indicating that the subjective value or utility of reward is depreciated according to its delay. Here, we show that neurons in the primate caudate nucleus and ventral striatum modulate their activity according to temporally discounted values of rewards with a similar time course. However, neurons in the caudate nucleus encoded the difference in the temporally discounted values of the two alternative targets more reliably than neurons in the ventral striatum. In contrast, neurons in the ventral striatum largely encoded the sum of the temporally discounted values, and therefore, the overall goodness of available options. These results suggest a more pivotal role for the dorsal striatum in action selection during intertemporal choice.

► Temporally discounted values are encoded in both dorsal and ventral striatum ► Time course of temporally discounted values is similar in dorsal and ventral striatum ► Temporally discounted values for actions appear largely in the dorsal striatum ► Activity related to chosen values develops gradually in the striatum