The neural basis of cost-benefit trade-offs in effort investment: a quantitative activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis

Abstract

Prominent theories of cognitive effort-based decision-making posit that shared brain regions process both potential reward and task demand, supporting the idea that effort allocation are informed by a cost-benefit trade-off, weighing the expected benefits of successful control against the inherent costs of effort exertion. While the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) has been proposed as a candidate region supporting this decision, it remains unclear whether dACC activity tracks rewards and costs as independent quantities, or it reflects the effort intensity worth the integrated costs and benefits. While recent accounts of dACC function posit a crucial role the region in negotiating cost-benefit trade-offs, empirical evidence for this account remains scarce across single studies. To address this, we conducted a systematic meta-analysis review of neuroimaging studies, using activation-likelihood estimation method to quantify brain activity across 45 studies (N = 1273 participants) investigating reward-guided effort. We found reliable recruitment of the dACC, putamen, and anterior insula for processing both larger rewards and increasing task demands. However, the dACC clusters sensitive to task demands and rewards were anatomically distinct with no significant overlap: caudal dACC activity tracked increasing task demands, while rostral dACC activity tracked increasing rewards. Critically, we also observed that caudal dACC activity tracked the integration of costs and benefits, compatible with mental effort intensity account. These findings suggest there are distinct signals for demand and effort in the dACC which are also integrated to support the decision to invest effort, supporting recent computational accounts of cost-benefit value integration in effort-based choice.

Generalized encoding of the relative subjective value of cognitive effort in dorsal ACC

“…Furthermore, the incredible heterogeneity of findings pertaining to dACC activity modulation as is relates to decision-making has been well-recognized (Castanheira et al, 2022;Kolling et al, 2016;, which also could help to explain the lack of decision difficulty effects observed in the current study.…”

“…In particular, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) has emerged as a prominent focus of study across both human and non-human studies of effort-based decisionmaking (Hosking et al, 2014;Lopez-Gamundi et al, 2021;Müller et al, 2021;Sayalı & Badre, 2019;Shenhav et al, 2013;Shenhav & Botvinick, 2015;Vassena et al, 2017;Westbrook & Braver, 2016). Nevertheless, there is much debate regarding the specific role the dACC plays in weighing the costs and benefits of engaging in effortful actions (Castanheira et al, 2022;Kolling et al, 2016).…”