ORCID

Abstract

Credit assignment is the association of specific instances of reward to the specific events, such as a particular choice, that caused them. Without credit assignment, choice values reflect an approximate estimate of how good the environment was when the choice was made—the global reward state—rather than exactly which outcome the choice caused. Combined transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging in macaques demonstrate credit assignment–related activity in prefrontal area 47/12o, and when this signal was disrupted with TUS, choice value representations across the brain were impaired. As a consequence, behavior was no longer guided by choice value, and decision-making was poorer. By contrast, global reward state–related activity in the adjacent anterior insula remained intact and determined decision-making after prefrontal disruption.

Publication Date

2021-12-17

Publication Title

Science advances

Volume

7

Issue

51

Acceptance Date

2021-10-28

Deposit Date

2022-01-14

Embargo Period

2022-01-19

Funding

This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust grant 105238/Z/14/Z (to D.F.), Medical Research Council grant MR/T023007/1 (to E.F.), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council grant BB/M011224/1 (to L.R.), Clarendon Fund (to L.T.), Wellcome Trust grant 203139/Z/16/Z (to L.V.), Focused Ultrasound Foundation (to J.-F.A.), Fondation Bettencourt Schueller (to J.-F.A.), Wellcome Trust grant 105651/Z/14/Z (to J.S.), Wellcome Trust grant WT100973AIA (to M.F.S.R.), Wellcome Trust grant 203139/Z/16/Z (to M.F.S.R.), Wellcome Trust grant WT101092MA (to M.F.S.R.), and Medical Research Council grant MR/P024955/1 (to M.F.S.R.).

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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