Dissociable effects of surprise and model update in parietal and anterior cingulate cortex
O’Reilly JX., Schüffelgen U., Cuell SF., Behrens TEJ., Mars RB., Rushworth MFS.
Significance This study investigates the brain mechanisms by which people disregard their previous beliefs about their environment and start forming new beliefs. Surprising events are often a signal that one’s previous beliefs are no longer valid. Using brain imaging, we identified separate brain systems involved in dealing with the immediate consequences of surprise (i.e., reprogramming actions) and in updating one’s beliefs about the environment to predict future events accurately. We present a mathematical and neuroanatomical model of how brains adjust to change in their environment that may inform our understanding of neurological disorders in which this adjustment process fails.