Modality-specific and modality-general representations of subjective value in frontal cortex

Standard neuroeconomics theories state that the value of different classes of stimuli, for instance the hedonic value of food versus music, is transformed to a common reference scale that is independent of their sensory properties. However, adaptive behaviour in a multimodal dynamic environment requires that our brain also encodes information about the sensory features of rewarding stimuli. How these two processes, i.e. deriving a common reference scale for valuation and maintaining sensitivity to the sensory contexts for goal-directed behaviour, are implemented in the brain remains inadequately understood. Here, we acquired fMRI data while human participants were engaged in a dynamic foraging task requiring them to integrate the reward history of auditory or visual choice options and update the subjective value assigned to each sensory modality. Univariate fMRI analysis revealed modality-specific and modality-general value representations in orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), respectively. Crucially, modality-specific value representations were absent when the task involved instruction-based rather than value-based choices. The analysis of effective connectivity further demonstrated that the modality-specific value representations emerged as a result of selective bidirectional interactions across the auditory and visual sensory cortices, the corresponding OFC clusters and the vmPFC. These results show how a valuation process that is sensitive to the sensory context of rewarding stimuli is enabled in the brain.