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. 2011;6(12):e29633.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029633. Epub 2011 Dec 27.

Rapid processing of both reward probability and reward uncertainty in the human anterior cingulate cortex

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Rapid processing of both reward probability and reward uncertainty in the human anterior cingulate cortex

Rongjun Yu et al. PLoS One. 2011.

Abstract

Reward probability and uncertainty are two fundamental parameters of decision making. Whereas reward probability indicates the prospect of winning, reward uncertainty, measured as the variance of probability, indicates the degree of risk. Several lines of evidence have suggested that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays an important role in reward processing. What is lacking is a quantitative analysis of the encoding of reward probability and uncertainty in the human ACC. In this study, we addressed this issue by analyzing the feedback-related negativity (FRN), an event-related potential (ERP) component that reflects the ACC activity, in a simple gambling task in which reward probability and uncertainty were parametrically manipulated through predicting cues. Results showed that at the outcome evaluation phase, while both win and loss-related FRN amplitudes increased as the probability of win or loss decreased, only the win-related FRN was modulated by reward uncertainty. This study demonstrates the rapid encoding of reward probability and uncertainty in the human ACC and offers new insights into the functions of the ACC.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Illustration of events and timing in a single trial.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Grand-average ERP waveforms from channel Fz. ERPS were time locked to (A) the cue phase, (B) win outcome condition, and (C) loss outcome condition.
Please note, the outcome probability used in this figure refers to the actual outcome frequency. Thus low probability indicates that the outcome is infrequent. For example, 25% probability in win condition refers to ‘actual win after the prediction of 25% winning probability’, whereas 25% probability in loss condition refers to ‘actual loss after the prediction of 75% winning probability’. For clarity, only waveforms for probabilities of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% are presented. The topographic map of mean FRN at 300ms in the cue, win, and loss conditions were also shown. (D) Coding of reward probability and reward uncertainty in cue-evoked FRN, and (E) outcome-evoked FRN. The regression lines were computed based on the regression equations for each condition.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Sagittal, transversal, and coronal views of dipoles.
Dipoles were superimposed on MRI-based head models for grand-average ERP waveforms in (A) cue phase and (B) outcome (win/loss) phase.

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