At that point, they chose to sample the other options again (exploration). Decisions to explore were associated with increased dACC activity. This association between dACC and exploratory behavior has been replicated in humans ( Amiez et al., 2012 and Cavanagh et al., 2012) and also demonstrated in monkeys ( Procyk et al., 2000 and Quilodran et al., 2008) and rodents ( Karlsson et al., 2012). Foraging. BI-2536 Like exploration, foraging involves searching for an alternative source of reward. However, in this case it typically involves an initial cost and is also usually driven by knowledge of the reward structure of the environment

(whereas exploration is directed at acquiring such knowledge). Nevertheless, like exploration, foraging involves selleckchem overriding current pursuit of more immediate reward to pursue an alternative that promises greater future reward, and thus relies on the allocation of control. Accordingly, the EVC model predicts that foraging should also engage the dACC. This prediction

is supported by a number of studies. For instance, Kolling et al. (2012) had participants make a series of choices between pairs of options that yielded probabilistic payoffs with known means. However, before each choice, participants were given the opportunity to switch the pair of options in front of them to a different TCL pair that could yield higher average reward, but at a cost for the switch. This was designed to be analogous to situations in which an animal’s decision to forage carries a near term cost but a potential long-term benefit. Activity in dACC was found to closely track the extent to which the mean value of the alternative options was greater than that of the current options, and to correlate with the decision to switch option sets in such cases (see also Boorman et al., 2013, Rushworth et al., 2012 and Wunderlich et al., 2009). This is consistent with the EVC model, which predicts that dACC should track the value of control-demanding

behavior and its selection over the current default. Animal studies have provided convergent findings. For example, Hayden et al. (2011b) found that macaque dACC neurons also track the value of foraging, and Li et al. (2012) found that dACC-lesioned rats forage for food substantially less than nonlesioned animals, while continuing to engage normally in other habitual or automatic behavior. Intertemporal Choice. Finally, it is worth noting that, insofar as both exploration and foraging involve the comparative evaluation of longer term versus immediate payoffs, they both involve intertemporal choice. One universally observed finding in the literature on intertemporal choice is that people (like all other species) exhibit a strong immediacy bias.