Open AccessThe subthalamic nucleus during decision‐making with multiple alternatives
Author(s) -
Keuken Max C.,
Van Maanen Leendert,
Bogacz Rafal,
Schäfer Andreas,
Neumann Jane,
Turner Robert,
Forstmann Birte U.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.22896
Subject(s) - subthalamic nucleus , neuroscience , basal ganglia , anterior cingulate cortex , psychology , functional magnetic resonance imaging , nucleus , cortex (anatomy) , hum , frontal cortex , deep brain stimulation , central nervous system , cognition , medicine , parkinson's disease , disease , art , performance art , art history
Several prominent neurocomputational models predict that an increase of choice alternatives is modulated by increased activity in the subthalamic nucleus (STN). In turn, increased STN activity allows prolonged accumulation of information. At the same time, areas in the medial frontal cortex such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the pre‐SMA are hypothesized to influence the information processing in the STN. This study set out to test concrete predictions of STN activity in multiple‐alternative decision‐making using a multimodal combination of 7 Tesla structural and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and ancestral graph (AG) modeling. The results are in line with the predictions in that increased STN activity was found with an increasing amount of choice alternatives. In addition, our study shows that activity in the ACC is correlated with activity in the STN without directly modulating it. This result sheds new light on the information processing streams between medial frontal cortex and the basal ganglia. Hum Brain Mapp 36:4041–4052, 2015 . © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.