Anterior insula reflects surprise in valuebased decisionmaking and perception Abstract   The brain has been theorized to employ inferential processes to overcome the problem of uncertainty. Inference is thought to underlie neural processes, including in disparate domains such as valuebased decisionmaking and perception. Valuebased decisionmaking commonly involves deliberation, a timeconsuming process that requires conscious consideration of decision variables. Perception, by contrast, is thought to be automatic and effortless. Both processes may call on a general neural system to resolve for uncertainty however. We addressed this question by directly comparing uncertainty signals in visual perception and an economic task using fMRI. We presented the same individuals with different versions of a bistable figure (Neckeru0027s cube) and with a gambling task during fMRI acquisition. We experimentally varied uncertainty, either on perceptual state or financial outcome. We found that inferential errors indexed by a formal account of surprise in the gambling task yielded BOLD responses in the anterior insula, in line with earlier findings. Moreover, we found perceptual uncertainty and surprise in the Necker Cube task yielded similar responses in the anterior insula. These results suggest that uncertainty, irrespective of domain, correlates to a common brain region, the anterior insula. These findings provide empirical evidence that the brain interacts with its environment through inferential processes.

The power of emotions in online decision making: A study of seller reputation using fMRI Abstract   Online auctions use a variety of unique tools to provide quality signals for products and sellers in an attempt to overcome the online marketplaceu0027s limitations. These tools include feedback ratings and symbols that indicate reputation. However, surprisingly few studies have investigated the effects of reputation indicators in the decisionmaking process in online marketplaces. No prior study in our knowledge has examined the role of graphics indicators in online decisionmaking. We investigated the decision process and the price premium an individual was willing to pay for a product using an experiment with the BeckerDeGrootMarschak procedure and eventrelated measures of brain activity. As signaling theory expects, results showed that the price premium paid for a product was higher when the product sold by a seller appeared with a highreputation symbol. Highreputation seller indicators triggered significantly higher neural activity compared with lowreputation seller indicators in brain regions associated with emotions in the prefrontal cortex (the ventromedial prefrontal cortex). The degree of integrated cognitive value and cognitive and emotional value as represented by neural activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and VMPFC respectively was correlated with the price premium individuals bid for products. The results indicate the applicability of semeiotic theory along with signaling theory in the emarketplace context and suggest fruitful avenues for further research.