Decision-Making Mechanisms

Decision-Making Mechanisms

  - Integration of Bodily States and Cognition:

    - The prefrontal cortex (PFC) integrates interoceptive information (via the insula) and emotional inputs (via the amygdala) to assess options.

    - Working Memory and Goals: The PFC keeps the decision active as a goal, even amidst emotional fluctuations, through circuits that sustain attention and persistence.

  - Role of Neurotransmitters:

    - Dopamine reinforces motivation towards the decision, even without immediate reward.

    - Serotonin modulates flexibility vs. rigidity in maintaining choices.

Maintaining Decision Despite Emotional Changes

  - Homeostasis and Allostasis:

    - The brain prioritizes decisions that promote bodily balance (homeostasis) or anticipate future needs (allostasis), maintaining them even with transient emotional variations.

  - Habits and Subcortical Circuits:

    - Repeated decisions can be consolidated in the nucleus accumbens and basal ganglia, becoming automatic and less susceptible to emotional fluctuations.

  - Emotional Self-Regulation:

    - Structures such as the dorsolateral PFC modulate emotional responses, allowing the decision to prevail over momentary feelings.

Continuity of the Bodily 'Self'

  - Maintaining decisions reflects the continuity of the self emerging from bodily signals. Even with emotional changes, the coherence of the 'self' (based on interoception and memory) sustains choices aligned with long-term goals or survival.

In summary, decisions persist due to dynamic integration between bodily states, emotional memory, neurochemical regulation, and cortical planning mechanisms, ensuring stability amid internal fluctuations.