法国脑研究所Mathias Pessiglione和Alizée Lopez-Persem研究组合作，利用颅内信号证明了人脑评估系统的四个核心特性。2020年4月13日出版的《自然-神经科学》杂志发表了这项成果。

在本研究中，为了跨越物种和技术的桥梁，他们使用颅内脑电图研究了36名癫痫患者的价值等级的神经表征。他们发现腹侧前额叶皮层（vmPFC）和（lOFC）高频活动以及包括脑海马在内的其他几个大脑区域都积极地反映了主观价值。

然后，他们证明了主观价值可以被解码，主要特性是(1)在刺激前的活动中，(2)用于各种目标分类，(3)即使在分散性任务期间，也可以(4)同时作为线性和二次信号（解码值和置信度）。因此，他们的发现指定了神经值信号的关键功能特性（预期、通用性、自动性、二次性），这可能为人类非理性选择行为提供认知。

据了解，估计备选方案的价值是决策的关键过程。人类功能磁共振成像和猴子电生理研究已经确定了大脑区域，例如vmPFC和lOFC，构成了一个价值系统。

附：英文原文

Title: Four core properties of the human brain valuation system demonstrated in intracranial signals

Author: Alize Lopez-Persem, Julien Bastin, Mathilde Petton, Raphalle Abitbol, Katia Lehongre, Claude Adam, Vincent Navarro, Sylvain Rheims, Philippe Kahane, Philippe Domenech, Mathias Pessiglione

Issue&Volume: 2020-04-13

Abstract: Estimating the value of alternative options is a key process in decision-making. Human functional magnetic resonance imaging and monkey electrophysiology studies have identified brain regions, such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC), composing a value system. In the present study, in an effort to bridge across species and techniques, we investigated the neural representation of value ratings in 36 people with epilepsy, using intracranial electroencephalography. We found that subjective value was positively reflected in both vmPFC and lOFC high-frequency activity, plus several other brain regions, including the hippocampus. We then demonstrated that subjective value could be decoded (1) in pre-stimulus activity, (2) for various categories of items, (3) even during a distractive task and (4) as both linear and quadratic signals (encoding both value and confidence). Thus, our findings specify key functional properties of neural value signals (anticipation, generality, automaticity, quadraticity), which might provide insights into human irrational choice behaviors.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-0615-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-020-0615-9