id_862. URGENCY MODULATES INFORMATION PROCESSING AND STRATEGY SELECTION: ROLE OF THE PRESUPPLEMENTARY MOTOR AREA
Krzysztof Bielski1,2,3, Wiktor Więcławski1,2, Magdalena Senderecka4, Birte Forstmann5, Szymon Wichary1,3
1 Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University
2 Doctoral School of Social Sciences, Jagiellonian University
3 Center for Brain Research, Jagiellonian University
4 Center for Cognitive Science, Jagiellonian University
5 Integrative Model-based Cognitive Neuroscience Research Unit, University of Amsterdam
INTRODUCTION: Multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) requires the evaluation of multiple characteristics of available options. Individuals may integrate all available information (a compensatory strategy) or rely on a simpler heuristic that prioritizes the most important attribute. Strategy selection is shaped by contextual factors (such as time pressure or task complexity).
AIM(S): One critical yet understudied factor is urgency, conceptualized as a time-dependent decrease in decision threshold. While urgency effects have been examined in perceptual decision-making (PDM), their role in value-based decision-making (VBDM) and strategy selection remains unclear.
METHOD(S): We investigated whether experimentally manipulated urgency influences information processing and strategy selection in MADM. Urgency was operationalized by varying the inter-stimulus interval (ISI; 1 s vs. 2 s), thereby modulating the temporal dynamics of information accumulation. Fifty-two participants (mean age = 25 ± 4.61 years) underwent fMRI scanning (3T Philips Achieva) while performing a MADM task.
RESULTS: Behaviorally, we conceptually replicated urgency effects previously reported in PDM: under higher urgency (ISI = 1 s), participants relied more strongly on options associated with a higher probability of yielding the better outcome. In contrast, lower urgency (ISI = 2 s) was associated with an increased tendency to adopt a simple strategy. Importantly, both behavioral effects correlated with activity in the presupplementary motor area (preSMA).
CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight a central role of the preSMA in modulating information processing and strategy selection under varying levels of urgency. The results are consistent with models implicating the preSMA within the cortico-basal ganglia loop in action selection, suggesting that this region contributes both to the dynamic adjustment of decision thresholds and to competition between option attributes during strategic choice.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT: This work was supported by an Opus grant (2019/35/B/HS6/01173) from the National Science Centre of Poland awarded to S.W. M.S. was supported by a Sonata Bis 10 grant (2020/38/E/HS6/00490) from the National Science Centre of Poland.