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Global gain modulation generates time-dependent urgency during perceptual choice in humans

Author

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  • Peter R. Murphy

    (Institute of Psychology and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University
    University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf)

  • Evert Boonstra

    (Institute of Psychology and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University)

  • Sander Nieuwenhuis

    (Institute of Psychology and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University)

Abstract

Decision-makers must often balance the desire to accumulate information with the costs of protracted deliberation. Optimal, reward-maximizing decision-making can require dynamic adjustment of this speed/accuracy trade-off over the course of a single decision. However, it is unclear whether humans are capable of such time-dependent adjustments. Here, we identify several signatures of time-dependency in human perceptual decision-making and highlight their possible neural source. Behavioural and model-based analyses reveal that subjects respond to deadline-induced speed pressure by lowering their criterion on accumulated perceptual evidence as the deadline approaches. In the brain, this effect is reflected in evidence-independent urgency that pushes decision-related motor preparation signals closer to a fixed threshold. Moreover, we show that global modulation of neural gain, as indexed by task-related fluctuations in pupil diameter, is a plausible biophysical mechanism for the generation of this urgency. These findings establish context-sensitive time-dependency as a critical feature of human decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter R. Murphy & Evert Boonstra & Sander Nieuwenhuis, 2016. "Global gain modulation generates time-dependent urgency during perceptual choice in humans," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms13526
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13526
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    Cited by:

    1. Pierre O. Boucher & Tian Wang & Laura Carceroni & Gary Kane & Krishna V. Shenoy & Chandramouli Chandrasekaran, 2023. "Initial conditions combine with sensory evidence to induce decision-related dynamics in premotor cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-28, December.
    2. Lluís Hernández-Navarro & Ainhoa Hermoso-Mendizabal & Daniel Duque & Jaime de la Rocha & Alexandre Hyafil, 2021. "Proactive and reactive accumulation-to-bound processes compete during perceptual decisions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.

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