The neural basis of feedback-guided behavioral adjustment

Abstract Humans derive pleasure from the utility of outcome and learn the correctness of performance from feedback. However, how outcome of decisions influences behavioral adjustment and especially the neural basis of behavioral adjustment still remains unclear. To investigate these questions, we employed a simple gambling task, in which participants chose between two alternative cards and received trial-by-trial feedback of choices. In different sessions, we emphasized either utility (win or loss) or performance (whether the choice was correct [better than the alternative] or incorrect), making one of the two aspects more salient to participants. We found that trial-by-trial feedback and the saliency of feedback modulated behavioral adjustment and subjective evaluation of outcomes. With simultaneous EEG recording, we found that the feedback-related negativity (FRN), P300, and late positive potential (LPP) served as the neural substrates for behavioral switching. Together, our findings reveal the neural basis of behavioral adjustment based on outcome evaluation and highlight the key role of feedback evaluation in action selection and flexible adaptation.