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The neural systems that mediate human perceptual decision making

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 9, pages 467–479 (2008)Cite this article

Key Points

  • Perceptual decision making is the act of choosing one option or course of action from a set of alternatives on the basis of the available sensory evidence.

  • Findings from monkey physiology experiments have parallels with those from human neuroimaging work.

  • In both species sensory evidence is represented in sensory processing areas, but the accumulation of sensory evidence occurs in decision-making areas that are downstream of the sensory processing areas; these decision-making areas form a decision by comparing outputs from sensory neurons. Candidate decision-making regions in the human brain include the posterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

  • In both monkeys and humans the regions that represent decision variables and perform a comparison are the same as those that select, plan and execute motor responses; they thus include motor and premotor areas.

  • Findings in humans show that there are additional components to the decision-making network. These include a region that translates the decision variable into a response and that is independent of the motor system that executes the response.

  • There is also evidence in humans for a system that detects perceptual uncertainty or difficulty and signals when more attentional resources are required to process a stimulus accurately.

  • Finally, there is evidence in humans for a system that is involved in performance monitoring, which detects when errors occur and when decision strategies need to be adjusted in order to maximize performance.

  • The functional architecture for human perceptual decision making thus consists of separate processes that interact in a heterarchical manner in which at least some of the processes happen in parallel.

Abstract

Perceptual decision making is the act of choosing one option or course of action from a set of alternatives on the basis of available sensory evidence. Thus, when we make such decisions, sensory information must be interpreted and translated into behaviour. Neurophysiological work in monkeys performing sensory discriminations, combined with computational modelling, has paved the way for neuroimaging studies that are aimed at understanding decision-related processes in the human brain. Here we review findings from human neuroimaging studies in conjunction with data analysis methods that can directly link decisions and signals in the human brain on a trial-by-trial basis. This leads to a new view about the neural basis of human perceptual decision-making processes.

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Figure 1: Representation of sensory evidence in lower-level sensory regions and perceptual decision making in the posterior DLPFC.
Figure 2: A neural system for human perceptual decision making.

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Acknowledgements

In the preparation of this article, we benefitted from feedback from and discussions with M. Bauer and M. Philiastides. We would like to thank R. Romo and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback. The assistance of A. Parr is also acknowledged. H.R.H. was supported by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) (HE 3347/1-2); S.M. and L.G.U. were supported by the National Institute of Mental Health Intramural Research Program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurocognition of Decision Making Group, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, Berlin, 14195, Germany

    Hauke R. Heekeren

  2. Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany

    Hauke R. Heekeren

  3. Neuroscience Research Center & Berlin NeuroImaging Center, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Hauke R. Heekeren

  4. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Facility,

    Sean Marrett

  5. Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Leslie G. Ungerleider

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  1. Hauke R. Heekeren
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  2. Sean Marrett
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Correspondence to Hauke R. Heekeren.

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Glossary

Decision variable

A quantity that is monotonically related to the relative likelihood of one alternative occurring versus another occurring. In perceptual decision-making tasks, the link between the sensory representation and the commitment to a choice is thought to involve the computation of a decision variable.

Functional MRI

(fMRI). An imaging technique that measures the brain's haemodynamic response to changes in neural activity.

Electroencephalography

(EEG). A technique used to measure neural activity by monitoring electrical signals from the brain that reach the scalp. EEG has good temporal resolution but relatively poor spatial resolution.

Magnetoencephalography

(MEG). A method of measuring physiological activity across the cortex by detecting perturbations in the magnetic field that is generated by the electrical activity of neuronal populations.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation

(TMS). A technique that delivers brief, strong electrical pulses through a coil placed on the scalp. These create a local magnetic field that in turn induces a current in the surface of the cortex, temporarily disrupting local neural activity.

Discrimination thresholds

In discrimination tasks, this is a measure of the smallest detectable change in a stimulus or the smallest difference between two stimuli that can reliably be detected. It is often defined as the difference for which the correct discrimination is made 75% (or sometimes 82%) of the time.

Beta frequency band

Neural activity in the frequency range of 12–25Hz.

Gamma frequency band

Neural activity in the frequency range of 30–80Hz.

Psychometric curve

A plot of the percentage of correct behavioural responses as a function of changes in the properties of the test stimulus.

Heterarchy

A term used in social and information sciences that describes networks of elements in which each element has the same 'horizontal' position of power and authority and has a theoretically equal role. It is used here as an antonym to hierarchy.

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Heekeren, H., Marrett, S. & Ungerleider, L. The neural systems that mediate human perceptual decision making. Nat Rev Neurosci 9, 467–479 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2374

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