Orbitofrontal Cortex Encodes Willingness to Pay in Everyday Economic Transactions

TLDR

Willingness‑to‑pay calculations are central to all economic transactions, yet little is known about how the brain performs this computation. The study aimed to investigate the neural basis of the willingness‑to‑pay computation. The authors scanned hungry subjects’ brains with functional magnetic resonance imaging while they placed real bids for the right to eat different foods. Activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex encoded subjects’ willingness to pay, supporting the hypothesis that the medial orbitofrontal cortex represents goal value in decision making.

Abstract

An essential component of every economic transaction is a willingness-to-pay (WTP) computation in which buyers calculate the maximum amount of financial resources that they are willing to give up in exchange for the object being sold. Despite its pervasiveness, little is known about how the brain makes this computation. We investigated the neural basis of the WTP computation by scanning hungry subjects' brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging while they placed real bids for the right to eat different foods. We found that activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex encodes subjects' WTP for the items. Our results support the hypothesis that the medial orbitofrontal cortex encodes the value of goals in decision making.