The Impact of Memory and Anxiety on Choice Consistency

Choice consistency is a fundamental aspect of rational decision-making, reflecting the stability and reliability of preferences. However, real-world decisions frequently exhibit variability and inconsistency, deviating from normative ideals. To elucidate these deviations, this study combined computational modeling, neuroimaging, and behavioral assessments to examine how state anxiety and memory dynamically modulate choice consistency. Remembered food items prompted more consistent and faster choices than forgotten ones, with computational modeling attributing this effect to lower decision thresholds. In contrast, state anxiety-induced via threat-of-shock-impaired both choice consistency and memory retrieval. Intriguingly, anxiety-driven reductions in memory accuracy positively correlated with shorter decision latencies. Neurally, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation during prechoice anticipation predicted choice consistency. Similarly, orbitofrontal cortex engagement during memory retrieval of food stimuli correlated with enhanced memory accuracy. Anxiety dynamically reallocated neural resources, suppressing sensorimotor and memory-related regions while amplifying emotional salience networks. These results suggest that anxiety impairs choice consistency by disrupting memory retrieval processes, which are critical for stabilizing value-based preferences.