Behavioral inhibition and prefrontal cortex in decision-making

Abstract

Every day we make innumerable decisions; some require no effort at all whereas others require considerable deliberation and weighing of various options. Despite the importance of decision-making in our lives and increased research interest, the specific neural mechanisms underlying decision-making remain unclear. We propose that the brain has at least two cortical pathways that independently generate a decision about appropriate behavior in given circumstances. These two pathways are extensions of the dorsal and ventral streams of the visual processing pathways. The parieto-premotor (extended dorsal) pathway makes decisions about motor actions in a largely autonomous and automatic fashion whereas the temporo-ventrolateral prefrontal (extended ventral) pathway is involved primarily in deliberate decisions and inhibitory control over behavior through the inhibitory function of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.