Dynamic Representation of the Subjective Value of Information

• Published in: The Journal of neuroscience 2021-09, Vol.41 (39), p.8220-8232
• Main Authors: Kobayashi, Kenji, Lee, Sangil, Filipowicz, Alexandre L S, McGaughey, Kara D, Kable, Joseph W, Nassar, Matthew R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Beads; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain - physiology; Brain Mapping; Cognition; Decision making; Decision Making - physiology; Female; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Nerve Net - diagnostic imaging; Nerve Net - physiology; Neuropsychological Tests; Prefrontal cortex; Reinforcement; Representations; Uncertainty; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0270-6474; 1529-2401
• DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0423-21.2021

To improve future decisions, people should seek information based on the value of information (VOI), which depends on the current evidence and the reward structure of the upcoming decision. When additional evidence is supplied, people should update the VOI to adjust subsequent information seeking, but the neurocognitive mechanisms of this updating process remain unknown. We used a modified beads task to examine how the VOI is represented and updated in the human brain of both sexes. We theoretically derived, and empirically verified, a normative prediction that the VOI depends on decision evidence and is biased by reward asymmetry. Using fMRI, we found that the subjective VOI is represented in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Critically, this VOI representation was updated when additional evidence was supplied, showing that the DLPFC dynamically tracks the up-to-date VOI over time. These results provide new insights into how humans adaptively seek information in the service of decision-making. For adaptive decision-making, people should seek information based on what they currently know and the extent to which additional information could improve the decision outcome, formalized as the VOI. Doing so requires dynamic updating of VOI according to outcome values and newly arriving evidence. We formalize these principles using a normative model and show that information seeking in people adheres to them. Using fMRI, we show that the underlying subjective VOI is represented in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and, critically, that it is updated in real time according to newly arriving evidence. Our results reveal the computational and neural dynamics through which evidence and values are combined to inform constantly evolving information-seeking decisions.