Information gained during goal pursuit motivates adaptive behavior. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) supports adaptive behavior, but how ACC signals are translated into motivational signals remains unclear. Rats with implants in the ACC and ventral tegmental area (VTA), a dopaminergic brain area implicated in motivation, were trained to run laps around a rectangular track for a fixed reward, where each lap varied in physical effort (a 30-cm climbable barrier). Partial directed coherence analysis of local field potentials revealed that ACC theta (4-12 Hz) activity increased as rats entered the barrier-containing region of the maze in trials when the barrier was absent and predicted similar changes in VTA theta activity. This did not occur in effortful, barrier-present trials. These data suggest that the ACC provides a top-down modulating signal to the VTA that can influence the motivation with which to pursue a reward.

Subjective inferences of probability play a critical role in decision-making. How we learn about choice options, through description or experience, influences how we perceive their likelihoods, an effect known as the description–experience (DE) gap. Classically, the DE gap details how low probability described options are perceptually inflated as compared to equiprobable experience ones. However, these studies assessed probability perception relative to a ‘sure-bet’ option, and it remained unclear whether the DE gap occurs when humans directly trade-off equiprobable description and experience options and whether choice patterns are influenced by the prospects of gain and loss. We addressed these questions through two experiments where humans chose between description and experience options with equal probabilities of either winning or losing points. Contrary to early studies, we found that gain-seeking participants preferred experience options across all probability levels and, by contrast, loss-mitigating participants avoided the experience options across all probability levels, with a maximal effect at 50%. Our results suggest that the experience options were perceived as riskier than descriptive options due to the greater uncertainty associated with their outcomes. We conclude by outlining a novel theory of probabilistic inference where outcome uncertainty modulates probability perception and risk attitudes.

Graphical Abstract Highlights d Anticipatory decision making is associated with increased ACC/VTA signaling d Sustaining behavior toward a new default is associated with ACC/VTA signaling d Error-related feedback integration is associated with increased VTA/ACC signaling d Error-related VTA/ACC signaling is predictive of subsequent choice adaptation Correspondence telston@nurhopsi.org In Brief Elston et al. find that the initiation and persistence of non-default behavior are associated with increases in top-down, ACC-to-VTA signaling. Additionally, the authors show that error-related feedback integration and subsequent behavioral adaptation accompany increases in bottom-up, VTA-to-ACC signaling. These results indicate that bidirectional ACC-VTA signaling is important for behavioral flexibility. SUMMARYThe anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is implicated in value-based decision making, anticipation, and adaptation; however, how ACC activity modulates these behaviors is unclear. One possibility is via the ACC's connections with the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a dopaminergic region implicated in motivation and feedback processing. We tested this by monitoring ACC and VTA local field potentials in rats performing a cost-benefit reversal task that elicited both value-based and anticipatory choices. Partial directed coherence analyses revealed that elevated 4-Hz ACC-to-VTA signaling accompanied decisions that appeared to be anticipatory. ACCto-VTA signaling also occurred post-reversal, consistent with it being involved in the initiation of non-default behavior. An analysis of 4-Hz signals in the other direction (VTA-to-ACC) revealed that it was elevated when the rats committed errors and that this signal was followed by behavioral adaptation. Together, these findings suggest that bidirectional communication between the ACC and VTA supports behavioral flexibility.