Confidence bias prescribes the neurocomputational mechanism of decision-making

Summary: A couple of decision-making models with different ingredients have successfully interpreted choices, confidence, and related neural activities. However, empirical and theoretical evidence is currently lacking to distinguish these models clearly. Here, we investigated the decision-congruent...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fanru Sun, Yinmei Ni, Weiwen Lu, Jie Su, Sidong Wang, Xiaohong Wan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Cell Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124725003341
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850155902749900800
author Fanru Sun
Yinmei Ni
Weiwen Lu
Jie Su
Sidong Wang
Xiaohong Wan
author_facet Fanru Sun
Yinmei Ni
Weiwen Lu
Jie Su
Sidong Wang
Xiaohong Wan
author_sort Fanru Sun
collection DOAJ
description Summary: A couple of decision-making models with different ingredients have successfully interpreted choices, confidence, and related neural activities. However, empirical and theoretical evidence is currently lacking to distinguish these models clearly. Here, we investigated the decision-congruent confidence bias, where confidence favors evidence from the chosen option, yet the choice and its correctness or optimality are determined equally by alternative evidence strengths across both perceptual and value-based decision-making tasks. This confidence bias is manifested by confidence-coding neural activities, particularly in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Further analyses on an array of neurocomputational models show that only the decision-making model equipped with mutual inhibition and an urgency signal can produce such a selective bias across almost all parameter regimes. These findings suggest that mutual inhibition and an urgency signal are two indispensable features embedded in the decision-making process, while confidence bias might be its consequence.
format Article
id doaj-art-a337db01286b4b6183a4bbe4f19c11d1
institution OA Journals
issn 2211-1247
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Cell Reports
spelling doaj-art-a337db01286b4b6183a4bbe4f19c11d12025-08-20T02:24:45ZengElsevierCell Reports2211-12472025-05-0144511556310.1016/j.celrep.2025.115563Confidence bias prescribes the neurocomputational mechanism of decision-makingFanru Sun0Yinmei Ni1Weiwen Lu2Jie Su3Sidong Wang4Xiaohong Wan5State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; School of Psychological and Cognitive Science and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Corresponding authorSummary: A couple of decision-making models with different ingredients have successfully interpreted choices, confidence, and related neural activities. However, empirical and theoretical evidence is currently lacking to distinguish these models clearly. Here, we investigated the decision-congruent confidence bias, where confidence favors evidence from the chosen option, yet the choice and its correctness or optimality are determined equally by alternative evidence strengths across both perceptual and value-based decision-making tasks. This confidence bias is manifested by confidence-coding neural activities, particularly in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Further analyses on an array of neurocomputational models show that only the decision-making model equipped with mutual inhibition and an urgency signal can produce such a selective bias across almost all parameter regimes. These findings suggest that mutual inhibition and an urgency signal are two indispensable features embedded in the decision-making process, while confidence bias might be its consequence.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124725003341CP: Neuroscience
spellingShingle Fanru Sun
Yinmei Ni
Weiwen Lu
Jie Su
Sidong Wang
Xiaohong Wan
Confidence bias prescribes the neurocomputational mechanism of decision-making
Cell Reports
CP: Neuroscience
title Confidence bias prescribes the neurocomputational mechanism of decision-making
title_full Confidence bias prescribes the neurocomputational mechanism of decision-making
title_fullStr Confidence bias prescribes the neurocomputational mechanism of decision-making
title_full_unstemmed Confidence bias prescribes the neurocomputational mechanism of decision-making
title_short Confidence bias prescribes the neurocomputational mechanism of decision-making
title_sort confidence bias prescribes the neurocomputational mechanism of decision making
topic CP: Neuroscience
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124725003341
work_keys_str_mv AT fanrusun confidencebiasprescribestheneurocomputationalmechanismofdecisionmaking
AT yinmeini confidencebiasprescribestheneurocomputationalmechanismofdecisionmaking
AT weiwenlu confidencebiasprescribestheneurocomputationalmechanismofdecisionmaking
AT jiesu confidencebiasprescribestheneurocomputationalmechanismofdecisionmaking
AT sidongwang confidencebiasprescribestheneurocomputationalmechanismofdecisionmaking
AT xiaohongwan confidencebiasprescribestheneurocomputationalmechanismofdecisionmaking