# Abstract choice representations during stable choice-response associations

## TL;DR

The study shows that the brain represents choices independently of motor actions, even when choices and responses are consistently linked.

## Contribution

It demonstrates abstract choice representations during stable choice-response associations in humans.

## Key findings

- Neural information about perceptual choices was independent of motor response and visual stimulus.
- Choice information increased during the stimulus and peaked after the response.
- Choice-related signals were strongest in frontoparietal regions, distinct from response information.

## Abstract

An increasing body of evidence has demonstrated neural representations of choices independent of the motor actions used to report them – so-called abstract choices. However, it remains unclear whether such representations arise due to dynamic changes in choice-response associations or reflect a general property of decision-making. Here, we show that in the human brain, choices are represented abstractly even when choice-response associations remain stable over time. We recorded neural activity using magnetoencephalography while participants performed a motion discrimination task, with choice-response mappings held constant within blocks. We found neural information about participants’ perceptual choices independent of both motor response and visual stimulus. Choice information increased during the stimulus and peaked after the response. Moreover, choice and response information showed distinct cortical distributions, with choice-related signals strongest in frontoparietal regions. Thus, abstract choice representations are not limited to dynamic or action-independent contexts and may be a general feature of decision-making.

Human magnetoencephalography reveals neural representations of perceptual choices that are abstracted from motor-responses even during stable choice-response associations. This suggests a general role of abstraction in decision-making.