Work

Neural evidence accumulation persists after choice to inform metacognitive judgments

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: The ability to revise one's certainty or confidence in a preceding choice is a critical feature of adaptive decision-making but the neural mechanisms underpinning this metacognitive process have yet to be characterized. In the present study, we demonstrate that the same build-to-threshold decision variable signal that triggers an initial choice continues to evolve after commitment, and determines the timing and accuracy of self-initiated error detection reports by selectively representing accumulated evidence that the preceding choice was incorrect. We also show that a peri-choice signal generated in medial frontal cortex provides a source of input to this post-decision accumulation process, indicating that metacognitive judgments are not solely based on the accumulation of feedforward sensory evidence. These findings impart novel insights into the generative mechanisms of metacognition.

Source: eLife

DOI: 10.7554/elife.11946

Authors: Peter R Murphy, Ian H Robertson, Siobhán Harty, Redmond G O'Connell

Institutions: Leiden University, Trinity College Dublin

Language: English

Topic: Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,500

Funders: European Commission, Irish Research Council, European Research Council