Tracking the Emergence of Conceptual Knowledge during Human Decision Making

2009/09/01 by Dharshan Kumaran, Jennifer J. Summerfield, Demis Hassabis +1 · 1 voice · 4 citations
Neuroscience · #Memory and Neural Mechanisms #Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research #Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies

paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2009.07.030

openalex publication_date 2009/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Concepts lie at the very heart of intelligence, providing organizing principles with which to comprehend the world. Surprisingly little, however, is understood about how we acquire and deploy concepts. Here, we show that a functionally coupled circuit involving the hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vMPFC) underpins the emergence of conceptual knowledge and its effect on choice behavior. Critically, the hippocampus alone supported the efficient transfer of knowledge to a perceptually novel setting. These findings provide compelling evidence that the hippocampus supports conceptual learning through the networking of discrete memories and reveal the nature of its interaction with downstream valuation modules such as the vMPFC. Our study offers neurobiological insights into the remarkable capacity of humans to discover the conceptual structure of related experiences and use this knowledge to solve exacting decision problems.

Citations

• Reward representations and reward-related learning in the human brain: insights from neuroimaging

Cited by

• Knowledge Embedding and Retrieval Strategies in an Informledge System
• A Novel Biologically Mechanism-Based Visual Cognition Model--Automatic Extraction of Semantics, Formation of Integrated Concepts and Re-selection Features for Ambiguity
• Generalisation of structural knowledge in the hippocampal-entorhinal\n system
• A new look at domain specificity: insights from social neuroscience

Discussions

• Kumaran D. et al (2009). Tracking the emergence of conceptual knowledge during human decision making. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2009.07.030 Murphy, RA et al (2004). Serial order of conditional [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]