Biology subjects

Hogeveen, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Hogeveen, J..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Novelty-seeking and directed exploration scale with dissociable social network outcomes and brain systems in older adults

Social isolation and loneliness are major determinants of well-being in older adults. Shrinking social networks and age-related shifts in social behavior and decision-making may increase vulnerability to loneliness. These changes in social decision-making strategies can be conceptualized within an exploration-exploitation tradeoff framework, in which social options with known outcomes are prioritized over uncertain ones. Yet, no study has characterized how complementary decision-making strategies, undirected novelty seeking and goal-directed exploration, relate to social network constructs or are supported by distinct neural systems. These strategies capture distinct forms of decision-making: undirected novelty seeking is driven by the intrinsic salience of novel options independent of expected informational gain, whereas goal-directed exploration involves deliberately sampling uncertain options to reduce uncertainty and optimize future choices. Here, we used fMRI and a novel social bandit reinforcement task to identify dissociable social constructs and brain systems linked to undirected novelty seeking and goal-directed exploration in older adults. Undirected novelty seeking was associated with social network size and with activity of temporoparietal and mid-cingulate brain areas. Goal-directed exploration predicted subjective feelings of social connectedness and was associated with activity of anterior cingulate and prefrontal brain areas. Crucially, choice probabilities from a non-social version of the three-arm bandit task were not associated with social decision-making nor with social constructs. Our findings suggest that, in later life, dissociable social decision-making strategies, when faced with unknown options, rely on distinct neural systems supporting social network size as well as subjective feelings of social connectedness.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Spatiotemporal Decoding of Explore-Exploit Decisions in the Human Brain

Adaptive behavior requires flexibly shifting between exploiting familiar rewards and exploring novel opportunities. These explore-exploit decisions are implemented via a distributed brain network--anchored in frontopolar cortex (FPC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)--that computes the total value of a given choice by weighting the immediate value of familiar options against the latent future value of exploration. Capturing the precise temporal dynamics of these neural computations across spatially distributed cortical networks is critical to resolving how the brain manages this tradeoff. Here, we combined magnetoencephalography (MEG) with partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) modeling during a reinforcement learning task. By decoding POMDP-derived choice policies in MEG source space, we mapped the precise spatiotemporal emergence of explore-exploit decisions across the cortex. We demonstrate that explore-exploit policy implementation unfolds via a hierarchical functional dissociation across the rostral prefrontal cortex. During decision formation, the lateral FPC initiates the strategic shift toward exploration hundreds of milliseconds before choice execution. Conversely, vmPFC and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) do not exhibit early significant divergence from the baseline exploitative trace on exploration trials, displaying only a delayed, transient peak prior to choice execution. Following feedback, the vmPFC and OFC transition to a sustained representation of the choices empirical value to update reward expectancies and guide future actions. Mapping reinforcement learning variables onto millisecond-resolved neural data reveals how the human brain resolves the explore-exploit dilemma: through early strategic initiation of exploration in the FPC, a delayed exploratory shift in vmPFC and OFC, and sustained outcome evaluation to optimize future actions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Protracted prediction: Neurodevelopment of reward processing in the adolescent cerebellum.

Adolescence is characterized by heightened reward sensitivity and risky decision-making. Prevailing neurodevelopmental frameworks attribute these behavioral trends to a maturational imbalance between rapidly developing motivational brain regions, and slower-maturing prefrontal cognitive control circuitry. However, these models overlook the cerebellum-a structure that demonstrates protracted development across adolescence and reciprocal connectivity with both striatum and prefrontal cortex. Here, we conducted a systematic literature search and activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies examining reward anticipation and feedback processing in healthy adolescents (19 studies; 55 cerebellar peaks). In adults, a recent ALE analysis found a diffuse set of cognitive and affective cerebellar regions is recruited during reward anticipation, while feedback-locked activation is circumscribed and mostly restricted to the Vermis (Kruithof et al., 2023). In adolescents, we found evidence for a reward phase-specific spatial dissociation relative to adults. In adolescents, reward anticipation-locked activity is restricted to regions of the Vermis that are functionally connected to occipital and salience networks. Conversely, feedback processing elicits diffuse activation across bilateral Crus I/II regions that are connected to frontoparietal, default-mode, and limbic networks. These results suggest a proactive engagement of cortico-cerebellar networks during reward anticipation in adults, and a reactive recruitment of cortico-cerebellar networks post-feedback in adolescents. Adolescents may have less mature internal models for optimizing decision-making, and as a result they may require more widespread recruitment of cortico-cerebellar cognitive and affective circuitry post-feedback. Prevailing maturational imbalance models of youth decision-making should be expanded to incorporate developmental changes in cerebellar reward processing.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Maturation of Cognitive Control in the Inferior Frontal Junction: A Combined Systematic Review and Coordinate-Based fMRI Meta-Analysis

Cognitive control is fundamental to goal-directed behavior, and its protracted maturation is a hallmark of adolescent brain development. In adulthood, the inferior frontal junction (IFJ) is functionally characterized as a critical region for updating task representations to guide the implementation of cognitive control. Yet, how its domain-general control functions emerge and mature across development remains largely underexplored. Specifically, it is unclear whether the IFJs capacity for cognitive control enhances uniformly as a single construct, or if this region matures asynchronously for distinct control processes like inhibition, switching, and working memory. To address this gap, we conducted a combined systematic review and coordinate-based neuroimaging meta-analysis. Applying multilevel kernel density analyses to fMRI studies of inhibition, switching, and working memory in youth and adults, we synthesized data from 72 contrasts (779 foci; N = 1,913). The results revealed a staggered developmental trajectory for IFJ recruitment. While adults showed consistent convergence of activation in the IFJ across all three domains, youth exhibited robust bilateral IFJ convergence exclusively during inhibitory control tasks. This suggests inhibition may be a developmentally foundational process localized to this region earlier in the lifespan. Furthermore, adults demonstrated hemispheric specialization absent in youth: left IFJ was uniquely sensitive to switching and working memory in adults, but not in youth. Together, these findings support a model where the IFJ does not mature as a static, monolithic node, but rather acts as a dynamic hub that integrates fractionated cognitive processes at different stages of development.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Hypoactivation of ventromedial frontal cortex in major depressive disorder: an MEG study of the Reward Positivity

BackgroundThe Reward Positivity (RewP) is sensitive and specific electrophysiological marker of reward receipt. These characteristics make it a compelling candidate marker of dysfunctional reward processing in major depressive disorder. We previously proposed that the RewP is a nexus of multiple aspects of reward variance, and that a diminished RewP in depression might only reflect a deficit in some of this variance. Specifically, we predicted a diminished ventromedial contribution in depression in the context of maintained reward learning. MethodsHere we collected magnetoencephalographic (MEG) recordings of reward receipt in 43 individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD group) and 38 healthy controls (CTL group). MEG allows effective source estimation due to the absence of volume conduction that compromises electroencephalographic recordings. ResultsThe MEG RewP analogue was generated by a broad set of cortical areas, yet only right ventromedial and right ventral temporal areas were diminished in MDD. These areas correlated with a principal component of anhedonia derived from multiple questionnaires. Compellingly, BA25 was the frontal region with the largest representation in both of these effects. ConclusionsThese findings not only advance our understanding underlying the computation of the RewP, but they also dovetail with convergent findings from other types of functional source imaging in depression, as well as from deep brain stimulation treatments. Together, these discoveries suggest that the RewP may be a valuable marker for objective assessment of reward affect and its disruption in major depression.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

The neurocomputational architecture of explore-exploit decision making

Humans and other animals often make the difficult decision to try new options (exploration) and forego immediate rewards (exploitation). Novelty-seeking is an adaptive solution to this explore-exploit dilemma, but our understanding of the neural computations supporting novelty-seeking in humans is limited. Here, we presented the same explore-exploit decision making task to monkeys and humans and found evidence that the computational basis for novelty-seeking is conserved across primate species. Critically, through computational model-based decomposition of event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in humans, these findings reveal a previously unidentified cortico-subcortical architecture mediating explore-exploit behavior in humans.

neuroscience↗