Open AccessNeural signatures of arbitration between Pavlovian and instrumental action selection
Author(s) -
Samuel J. Gershman,
Marc Guitart-Masip,
James F. Cavanagh
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos computational biology/plos computational biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.628
H-Index - 182
eISSN - 1553-7358
pISSN - 1553-734X
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008553
Subject(s) - psychology , action selection , inferior frontal gyrus , frontal cortex , ventromedial prefrontal cortex , prefrontal cortex , controllability , action (physics) , neuroscience , punishment (psychology) , cognitive psychology , functional magnetic resonance imaging , developmental psychology , cognition , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , perception
Pavlovian associations drive approach towards reward-predictive cues, and avoidance of punishment-predictive cues. These associations “misbehave” when they conflict with correct instrumental behavior. This raises the question of how Pavlovian and instrumental influences on behavior are arbitrated. We test a computational theory according to which Pavlovian influence will be stronger when inferred controllability of outcomes is low. Using a model-based analysis of a Go/NoGo task with human subjects, we show that theta-band oscillatory power in frontal cortex tracks inferred controllability, and that these inferences predict Pavlovian action biases. Functional MRI data revealed an inferior frontal gyrus correlate of action probability and a ventromedial prefrontal correlate of outcome valence, both of which were modulated by inferred controllability.