Complementary and opponent value signals in the human brain support choosing the best and avoiding the worst
Authors/Creators
- Baratin, Clarissa (Researcher)1
- Lopez-Persem, Alizée (Researcher)2
- Kahane, Philippe (Researcher)1, 3
- Minotti, Lorella (Researcher)1, 3
- Hammer, Jiri (Researcher)4
- Marusič, Petr (Researcher)4
- Nica, Anca (Researcher)5
- Rheims, Sylvain (Researcher)6
- Maillard, Louis (Researcher)7
- Denuelle, Marie (Researcher)8, 9
- et al. Show all 15 authors
- Baratin, Clarissa (Researcher)1
- Lopez-Persem, Alizée (Researcher)2
- Kahane, Philippe (Researcher)1, 3
- Minotti, Lorella (Researcher)1, 3
- Hammer, Jiri (Researcher)4
- Marusič, Petr (Researcher)4
- Nica, Anca (Researcher)5
- Rheims, Sylvain (Researcher)6
- Maillard, Louis (Researcher)7
- Denuelle, Marie (Researcher)8, 9
- Barbeau, Emmanuel (Researcher)8
- Chanteloup-Forêt, Blandine (Researcher)1
- Pessiglione, Mathias (Researcher)2
- Becq, Guillaume (Researcher)10
- Bastin, Julien (Researcher)1
- 1. Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Inserm U1216, CHU Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble Institut Neurosciences, GIN, Grenoble, France
- 2. Institut du Cerveau, INSERM UMRS 1127, CNRS UMR 7225, Sorbonne Université, AP-HP, Paris, France
- 3. Neurology Department, University Hospital of Grenoble, Grenoble, France
- 4. Neurology Department, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
- 5. Neurology Department, University Hospital of Rennes, Rennes, France
- 6. Functional Neurology and Epileptology Department, Hospices Civils de Lyon and Université de Lyon, Lyon, France
- 7. Neurology Department, University Hospital of Nancy, Nancy, France
- 8. Centre de recherche Cerveau et Cognition (CerCo), CNRS-UPS, UMR 5549, Toulouse, France
- 9. Neurology Department, CHU Toulouse, Toulouse, France
- 10. Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, GIPSA-lab, Grenoble, France
Description
Whether the brain encodes the subjective value of pleasant and unpleasant situations via a single integrated circuit or through distinct pathways remains unresolved. How such signals guide choice across contexts also remains unclear. To address these questions, we recorded intracerebral activity from participants who rated pleasant and unpleasant scenarios and then made binary choices across domains and frames. Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) broadband gamma activity (BGA, 50–150 Hz) tracked the value of pleasant items during rating and choice, correlating positively with the most pleasant item irrespective of choice frame. Similarly, anterior insula (aIns) BGA tracked the value of unpleasant items during rating and choice, correlating negatively with the most unpleasant item irrespective of choice frame. Relative value signals in the vmPFC and aIns diverged most strongly when item domain and choice frame conflicted. These findings reveal complementary neural systems for pleasant and unpleasant valuation and their role in value-based choices.
Files
article-in-press.pdf
Additional details
Dates
- Accepted
-
2026-07-22