Anterior cingulate neurons perform parallel processing of fixated and peripheral information to guide information sampling and choice

Abstract We use our eyes to evaluate objects around us. Models of economic choice emphasise the impact of sequential fixation on valuation and choice, with prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) encoding values of fixated items. Yet whether these regions also evaluate non-fixated peripheral information to guide choice remains unknown. Here we show that in a decision-making task involving four simultaneously presented cues, rhesus macaques use peripheral information to guide information sampling and choice, and that ACC neurons encode this peripheral information. This served two distinct purposes: subjects were more likely to fixate valuable peripheral cues, and more likely to choose valuable options whose cues were never even fixated. ACC, orbitofrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex neurons all encoded cue value as they were fixated. ACC was unique, however, in also conducting parallel processing of peripheral cues, including cues never fixated, to guide information sampling and choice.