The neurobiology of decision making: The best-laid plans of mice and primates

Abstract

Many decisions arise through an accumulation of evidence to a terminating threshold. The process provides a unified account of the choice (e.g., accuracy) and the amount of time taken to complete it. It also provides a unified account of confidence, vacillation, changes of mind and the incorporation of prior bias. The computations are supported by neural mechanisms that operate in association areas of the primate brain. A working hypothesis is that the neural mechanisms that underlie primate decision makin