Using computational neuroscience to investigate the neural correlates of cognitive-affective integration during covert decision making.

We presented a proposed neural level mechanism for the integration of cognitive and affective information during covert decision making. The central idea is that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex establishes predicted outcomes of responses through its connections with the amygdala, and that this information is passed through the context-moderated gateway in the nucleus accumbens in order to promote behaviours that are most beneficial to the long term survival of the organism. We then implemented the proposed mechanism in a network of spiking neurons, and tested one of its central claims. Results showed that the model was capable of producing behaviour similar to that observed in normal humans, as well as that exhibited during VMPFC damage.