The autonomic nervous system and decision-making

Abstract

Decision-making is choice of actions based on values. The striatum, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, in the brain are thought to play important roles in processing of decision-making. Autonomic activity is also critical for decision-making. It has been shown that autonomic activity is dynamically modulated by contingency between choice and outcome, and that body's arousal states reflected in adrenaline secretion, facilitates the tendency of exploration in decision-making mediated by activity of the insula cortex. The theory of predictive processing, which has become dominant in cognitive neuroscience in recent years, has the potential to provide a unified account of the brain and autonomic functions underlying such processes of decision-making. This mini review introduces empirical findings on this issue and a computational model that describes the brain and body functions therein.