Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Aug 2011)
Value and prediction error in the medial frontal cortex: integrating the single-unit and systems levels of analysis
Abstract
The role of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in cognition has been extensively investigated with several techniques, including single-unit recordings in rodents and monkeys and EEG and fMRI in humans. This has generated a rich set of data and points of view. Important theoretical functions proposed for ACC are value estimation, error detection, error likelihood estimation, conflict monitoring, and estimation of reward volatility. A unified view is lacking at this time, however. Here we propose that online value estimation could be the key function underlying these diverse data. This is instantiated in the Reward Value and Prediction Model (RVPM). The model contains units coding for the value of cues (stimuli or actions) and units coding for the differences between such values and the actual reward (prediction errors). We exposed the model to typical experimental paradigms from single-unit, EEG and fMRI research to compare its overall behaviour with the data from these studies. The model reproduced the ACC behaviour of previous single-unit, EEG and fMRI studies on reward processing, error processing, conflict monitoring, error-likelihood estimation and volatility estimation, unifying the interpretations of the role performed by the ACC in some aspects of cognition.
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