Psychologists and economists have long appreciated the contribution of reward history and
expectation to decision-making. Yet we know little about how specific histories of choice and …

Although economic theories based on utility maximization account for a range of choice
behaviors, utilities must be estimated through experience. Dynamics of this learning process …

Success in a constantly changing environment requires that decision-making strategies be
updated as reward contingencies change. How this is accomplished by the nervous system …

Behavioral economic studies involving limited numbers of choices have provided key
insights into neural decision-making mechanisms. By contrast, animals' foraging choices …

Highlights•Data suggest that the brain computes value relative to a dynamic reference.•This
leads to context-sensitive choices, some sensible and some seemingly irrational.•These …

We hypothesized that during binary economic choice, decision makers use the first option
they attend as a default to which they compare the second. To test this idea, we recorded …

The mathematical formulations used to study the neurophysiological signals governing
choice behavior fall under one of two major theoretical frameworks:“choice probability” or …

Despite widespread neural activity related to reward values, signals related to upcoming
choice have not been clearly identified in the rodent brain. Here we examined neuronal …

Behavioral studies suggest that making a decision involves representing the overall
desirability of all available actions and then selecting that action that is most desirable …

Choosing the most valuable course of action requires knowing the outcomes associated
with the available alternatives. The striatum may be important for representing the values of …