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Independent Neural Computation of Value from Other People’s Confidence
Brief about:
Journal Article (2017)
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Other researchers:
Understanding how the brain separately processes value by assessing others’ confidence, distinct from firsthand experience, to illuminate social influences on decision-making.
Many human decisions-whether in social settings, business, or everyday life-are influenced by others’ visible confidence, especially when one lacks personal experience to guide choices. The brain’s ability to incorporate such social cues to gauge potential outcomes has meaningful implications for adaptive decision-making in social environments. Previous research suggests that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) plays a broad role in evaluating value, but the specific pathways by which it distinguishes information inferred from social cues (like confidence) versus direct personal experience have been unclear.
Here, the focus is on the distinct pathways within vmPFC that compute value when people observe the confidence levels of others versus when they draw on their own knowledge. By identifying how confidence cues independently influence neural computation of value, this study contributes to understanding how humans navigate socially influenced environments, which range from policy settings to financial markets. These insights deepen the broader understanding of how confidence in others’ expertise can support or even override personal decision-making, relevant to fields where judgment and risk-taking are key.
Key findings
- Observing others' confident actions influences participants' decisions, suggesting confidence conveys a reliability metric.Evidence
In a decision-making task with 23 participants, fictional agents displayed varied confidence levels. The choices of confident agents had a stronger impact on participants' decisions than those of unconfident agents, indicating that confidence acts as a perceived reliability cue.
What it meansThe study demonstrates that neural processing of indirect information (confidence) supports adaptive decision-making by weighing social cues where personal experience is unavailable.
- Value computations from others' confidence cues activate distinct regions within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC).Evidence
Functional MRI (fMRI) results showed that while firsthand sample-based value activates the posterior vmPFC, confidence-weighted social cues recruit anterior vmPFC (area 10).
What it meansThis anatomical division in vmPFC suggests specific roles for posterior and anterior vmPFC regions in processing social versus experiential learning, highlighting vmPFC's complexity in managing indirect social information.
- Self-reported social conformity and self-reliance correlate with task performance and unique neural responses.Evidence
Greater task reliance on personal samples correlated with lower self-reported conformity (r = 0.46, p = 0.013), while higher conformity scores were linked to increased dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) activation during task-related social conflict.
What it meansThese results imply neural markers for individual conformity traits, with lab-based social learning cues predicting broader social behaviors.
- Value derived from personal experience and others' choices overlaps in vmPFC, but confidence-weighted value shows unique anterior activation.Evidence
vmPFC activity tracked both personal experience and agents' choices without confidence weighting, while anterior vmPFC selectively activated for confidence-weighted decisions (p < 0.05).
What it meansThis specificity of value encoding along the vmPFC axis suggests that complex, confidence-based inferences rely on anterior areas, emphasizing vmPFC's organizational role for social learning complexity.
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Independent Neural Computation of Value from Other People’s Confidence
Cite this brief: Campbell-Meiklejohn, Daniel. 'Independent Neural Computation of Value from Other People’s Confidence'. Acume. https://www.acume.org/r/independent-neural-computation-of-value-from-other-peoples-confidence/
Brief created by: Dr Daniel Campbell-Meiklejohn | Year brief made: 2024
Original research:
- Simonsen, A., Campbell-Meiklejohn, D., & et al., ‘Independent Neural Computation of Value from Other People’s Confidence’ 37(3) (pp. 673–684) https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4490-15.2017. – https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4490-15.2016
Research brief:
Understanding how the brain separately processes value by assessing others’ confidence, distinct from firsthand experience, to illuminate social influences on decision-making.
Many human decisions-whether in social settings, business, or everyday life-are influenced by others’ visible confidence, especially when one lacks personal experience to guide choices. The brain’s ability to incorporate such social cues to gauge potential outcomes has meaningful implications for adaptive decision-making in social environments. Previous research suggests that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) plays a broad role in evaluating value, but the specific pathways by which it distinguishes information inferred from social cues (like confidence) versus direct personal experience have been unclear.
Here, the focus is on the distinct pathways within vmPFC that compute value when people observe the confidence levels of others versus when they draw on their own knowledge. By identifying how confidence cues independently influence neural computation of value, this study contributes to understanding how humans navigate socially influenced environments, which range from policy settings to financial markets. These insights deepen the broader understanding of how confidence in others’ expertise can support or even override personal decision-making, relevant to fields where judgment and risk-taking are key.
Findings:
Observing others’ confident actions influences participants’ decisions, suggesting confidence conveys a reliability metric.
In a decision-making task with 23 participants, fictional agents displayed varied confidence levels. The choices of confident agents had a stronger impact on participants’ decisions than those of unconfident agents, indicating that confidence acts as a perceived reliability cue.
The study demonstrates that neural processing of indirect information (confidence) supports adaptive decision-making by weighing social cues where personal experience is unavailable.
Value computations from others’ confidence cues activate distinct regions within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC).
Functional MRI (fMRI) results showed that while firsthand sample-based value activates the posterior vmPFC, confidence-weighted social cues recruit anterior vmPFC (area 10).
This anatomical division in vmPFC suggests specific roles for posterior and anterior vmPFC regions in processing social versus experiential learning, highlighting vmPFC’s complexity in managing indirect social information.
Self-reported social conformity and self-reliance correlate with task performance and unique neural responses.
Greater task reliance on personal samples correlated with lower self-reported conformity (r = 0.46, p = 0.013), while higher conformity scores were linked to increased dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) activation during task-related social conflict.
These results imply neural markers for individual conformity traits, with lab-based social learning cues predicting broader social behaviors.
Value derived from personal experience and others’ choices overlaps in vmPFC, but confidence-weighted value shows unique anterior activation.
vmPFC activity tracked both personal experience and agents’ choices without confidence weighting, while anterior vmPFC selectively activated for confidence-weighted decisions (p < 0.05).
This specificity of value encoding along the vmPFC axis suggests that complex, confidence-based inferences rely on anterior areas, emphasizing vmPFC’s organizational role for social learning complexity.