The role of premature evidence accumulation in making difficult perceptual decisions under temporal uncertainty

Devine, Ciara A., Gaffney, Christine, Loughnane, Gerard M., Kelly, Simon P. and O'Connell, Redmond G. (2019) The role of premature evidence accumulation in making difficult perceptual decisions under temporal uncertainty. eLife, 8. e48526. ISSN 2050-084X

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Abstract

The computations and neural processes underpinning decision making have primarily been investigated using highly simplified tasks in which stimulus onsets cue observers to start accumulating choice-relevant information. Yet, in daily life we are rarely afforded the luxury of knowing precisely when choice-relevant information will appear. Here, we examined neural indices of decision formation while subjects discriminated subtle stimulus feature changes whose timing relative to stimulus onset (‘foreperiod’) was uncertain. Joint analysis of behavioural error patterns and neural decision signal dynamics indicated that subjects systematically began the accumulation process before any informative evidence was presented, and further, that accumulation onset timing varied systematically as a function of the foreperiod of the preceding trial. These results suggest that the brain can adjust to temporal uncertainty by strategically modulating accumulation onset timing according to statistical regularities in the temporal structure of the sensory environment with particular emphasis on recent experience.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > Psychology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Divisions:	School of Business > Staff Research and Publications
Depositing User:	Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín
Date Deposited:	03 Jan 2020 10:39
Last Modified:	03 Jan 2020 10:39
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/4112

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