Measuring Beliefs and Rewards: A Neuroeconomic Approach
基于Caplin和Dean的公理化理论，首次正式检验了多巴胺编码预期与实际奖励差异的假说，发现伏隔核的神经活动支持这一理论，且损失与收益的预测误差信号存在不对称性。
The neurotransmitter dopamine is central to the emerging discipline of neuroeconomics; it is hypothesized to encode the difference between expected and realized rewards and thereby to mediate belief formation and choice. We develop the first formal test of this theory of dopaminergic function, based on a recent axiomatization by Caplin and Dean [2008A]. These tests are satisfied by neural activity in the nucleus accumbens, an area rich in dopamine receptors. We find evidence for separate positive and negative reward prediction error signals, suggesting that behavioral asymmetries in response to losses and gains may parallel asymmetries in nucleus accumbens activity.