Fictive Reward Signals in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Abstract

The Path Not Taken: People readily recognize that unchosen actions have consequences and adjust their behavior accordingly. The ability to recognize fictive outcomes is thought to be a necessary component of regret, and disruptions in this ability may cause anxiety and problem gambling. Do animals engage in this same process? Hayden et al. (p. 948 ) provided monkeys with information about what rewards unchosen options would have given. The monkeys' behavior depended strongly on these fictive outcomes. Responses of single neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex, which monitors outcomes of rewarding decisions and guides subsequent changes in behavior, were recorded while monkeys performed the task. Nearly half the neurons in the sample responded to both experienced and fictive outcomes. Thus, the anterior cingulate cortex does not simply monitor the consequences of actions, but represents outcomes in a more abstract manner that incorporates both real and fictive information.