Neuronal reference frames for social decisions in primate frontal cortex

ABSTRACT Social decisions are crucial for the success of individuals and the groups that they comprise. Group members respond vicariously to benefits obtained by others, and impairments in

this capacity contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism and sociopathy. We examined the manner in which neurons in three frontal cortical areas encoded the outcomes of social

decisions as monkeys performed a reward-allocation task. Neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) predominantly encoded rewards that were delivered to oneself. Neurons in the anterior

cingulate gyrus (ACCg) encoded reward allocations to the other monkey, to oneself or to both. Neurons in the anterior cingulate sulcus (ACCs) signaled reward allocations to the other monkey

or to no one. In this network of received (OFC) and foregone (ACCs) reward signaling, ACCg emerged as an important nexus for the computation of shared experience and social reward.

Individual and species-specific variations in social decision-making might result from the relative activation and influence of these areas. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe

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NEURAL POPULATIONS IN MACAQUE ANTERIOR CINGULATE CORTEX ENCODE SOCIAL IMAGE IDENTITIES Article Open access 29 August 2024 BASIS FUNCTIONS FOR COMPLEX SOCIAL DECISIONS IN DORSOMEDIAL FRONTAL

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in macaque monkeys. _J. Comp. Neurol._ 363, 615–641 (1995). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank J.M. Groh, J.M. Pearson, D.L. Barack, R.B. Ebitz, E.S.

Bromberg-Martin, K.K. Watson and B.Y. Hayden for helpful discussions. We are very grateful to S.P. Wise and C. Padoa-Schioppa for insightful discussions and comments on earlier versions of

the manuscript. We also thank M.L. Carlson for general technical assistance. This work was supported by a T32 Postdoctoral Training Grant on Fundamental and Translational Neuroscience

(S.W.C.C., 2T32NS051156–06), a Ruth K. Broad Biomedical Foundation Postdoctoral Grant (S.W.C.C.), a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral research award (J.-F.G., 84765), the

National Institute of Mental Health (M.L.P. and S.W.C.C., MH095894) and the Department of Defense (M.L.P. and S.W.C.C., W81XWH-11-1-0584). AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS *

Department of Neurobiology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA Steve W C Chang & Michael L Platt * Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University,

Durham, North Carolina, USA Steve W C Chang, Jean-François Gariépy & Michael L Platt * Departments of Psychology and Neurosciences, and Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke Institute for

Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA Michael L Platt Authors * Steve W C Chang View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar *

Jean-François Gariépy View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Michael L Platt View author publications You can also search for this author

inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS S.W.C.C. and M.L.P. designed the study and wrote the paper. S.W.C.C. and J.-F.G. performed the experiments and S.W.C.C. analyzed the data. CORRESPONDING

AUTHOR Correspondence to Steve W C Chang. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY TEXT AND

FIGURES Supplementary Figures 1–9 and Supplementary Table 1 (PDF 662 kb) RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Chang, S., Gariépy, JF. &

Platt, M. Neuronal reference frames for social decisions in primate frontal cortex. _Nat Neurosci_ 16, 243–250 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3287 Download citation * Received: 01

October 2012 * Accepted: 20 November 2012 * Published: 23 December 2012 * Issue Date: February 2013 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3287 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following

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