Decision SincNet: Neurocognitive models of decision making that predict cognitive processes from neural signals

TL;DR

This paper introduces Decision SincNet, a neural network model that predicts cognitive decision-making parameters from EEG signals, enabling trial-by-trial estimation of decision processes and identifying relevant neural features.

Contribution

It presents a novel SincNet-based architecture that directly estimates drift rate and boundary parameters from EEG data on a per-trial basis, improving over median-based estimates.

Findings

Single-trial estimates outperform median estimates in predicting RTs.

The model identifies EEG frequency bands linked to evidence accumulation and caution.

Time windows of neural processing related to decision parameters are revealed.

Abstract

Human decision making behavior is observed with choice-response time data during psychological experiments. Drift-diffusion models of this data consist of a Wiener first-passage time (WFPT) distribution and are described by cognitive parameters: drift rate, boundary separation, and starting point. These estimated parameters are of interest to neuroscientists as they can be mapped to features of cognitive processes of decision making (such as speed, caution, and bias) and related to brain activity. The observed patterns of RT also reflect the variability of cognitive processes from trial to trial mediated by neural dynamics. We adapted a SincNet-based shallow neural network architecture to fit the Drift-Diffusion model using EEG signals on every experimental trial. The model consists of a SincNet layer, a depthwise spatial convolution layer, and two separate FC layers that predict drift rate and boundary for each trial in-parallel. The SincNet layer parametrized the kernels in order to directly learn the low and high cutoff frequencies of bandpass filters that are applied to the EEG data to predict drift and boundary parameters. During training, model parameters were updated by minimizing the negative log likelihood function of WFPT distribution given trial RT. We developed separate decision SincNet models for each participant performing a two-alternative forced-choice task. Our results showed that single-trial estimates of drift and boundary performed better at predicting RTs than the median estimates in both training and test data sets, suggesting that our model can successfully use EEG features to estimate meaningful single-trial Diffusion model parameters. Furthermore, the shallow SincNet architecture identified time windows of information processing related to evidence accumulation and caution and the EEG frequency bands that reflect these processes within each participant.