Fast and slow contributions to decision-making in corticostriatal circuits

We make complex decisions using both fast judgments and slower, more deliberative reasoning. For example, during value-based decision-making, animals make rapid value-guided orienting eye movements after stimulus presentation that bias the upcoming decision. The neural mechanisms underlying these pro-cesses remain unclear. To address this, we recorded from the caudate nucleus and orbitofrontal cortex while animals made value-guided decisions. Using population-level decoding, we found a rapid, phasic signal in caudate that predicted the choice response and closely aligned with animals??? initial orienting eye move-ments. In contrast, the dynamics in orbitofrontal cortex were more consistent with a deliberative system seri-ally representing the value of each available option. The phasic caudate value signal and the deliberative or-bitofrontal value signal were largely independent from each other, consistent with value-guided orienting and value-guided decision-making being independent processes.

Automated summary

This study reveals that animals use both fast and slow decision-making processes when making value-based decisions. Rapid orienting eye movements are guided by a signal in the caudate nucleus, while a deliberative system in the orbitofrontal cortex represents the values of available options. These two processes are largely independent from each other.