Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6274604 | Neuroscience | 2013 | 13 Pages |
Abstract
The somatic marker hypothesis asserts that decision-making can be guided by feedback of bodily states to the brain. In line with this hypothesis, the present study tested whether sympathetic activity shows an association with a tonic dimension of decision-making, exploratory tendency represented by entropy in information theory, and further examined the neural mechanisms of the association. Twenty participants performed a stochastic reversal learning task that required decision-making in an unstable and uncertain situation. Regional cerebral blood flow was evaluated using 15O-water positron emission tomography (PET), and cardiovascular indices and concentrations of catecholamine in peripheral blood were also measured, during the task. In reversal learning, increased epinephrine during the task positively correlated with larger entropy, indicating a greater tendency for exploration in decision-making. The increase of epinephrine also correlated with brain activity revealed by PET in the somatosensory cortices, anterior insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and the dorsal pons. This result is consistent with previously reported brain matrixes of representation of bodily states and interoception. In addition, activity of the anterior insula specifically correlated with entropy, suggesting possible mediation of this brain region between peripheral sympathetic arousal and exploration in decision-making. These findings shed a new light about a role of bodily states in decision-making and underlying neural mechanisms.
Keywords
ACCNucleus tractus solitariesrCBFOFCNTSMBPMPFCSPMHRVEntropystandard deviationsCardiac outputSympathetic arousalDecision-makingfMRIfunctional magnetic resonance imagingPositron emission tomography (PET)Positron emission tomographyRegional cerebral blood flowexplorationTPRHeart rateSomatic marker hypothesismean blood pressureorbitofrontal cortexanterior cingulate cortexmedial prefrontal cortexlocus coeruleustotal peripheral resistancemeanStatistical parametric mapheart rate variabilityPETJapanese yen
Related Topics
Life Sciences
Neuroscience
Neuroscience (General)
Authors
H. Ohira, M. Matsunaga, H. Murakami, T. Osumi, S. Fukuyama, J. Shinoda, J. Yamada,