Decision making, the P3, and the locus coeruleus--norepinephrine system.
2005/01/01 by Sander Nieuwenhuis, Gary Aston-Jones, Gary Aston‐Jones +1 · 1,695 citations
Medicine · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Central nervous system #Cognitive psychology #Cognitive science #Dopamine #Information processing #Internal medicine #Locus coeruleus #Long-term potentiation #Medicine #Memory and Neural Mechanisms #Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies #Neural dynamics and brain function #Neural system #Neuroscience #Norepinephrine #Psychology
paper · open access · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.4.510
published in Psychological Bulletin 131(4), 510-532 (American Psychological Association)
openalex publication_date 2005/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
Abstract
Psychologists and neuroscientists have had a long-standing interest in the P3, a prominent component of the event-related brain potential. This review aims to integrate knowledge regarding the neural basis of the P3 and to elucidate its functional role in information processing. The authors review evidence suggesting that the P3 reflects phasic activity of the neuromodulatory locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) system. They discuss the P3 literature in the light of empirical findings and a recent theory regarding the information-processing function of the LC-NE phasic response. The theoretical framework emerging from this research synthesis suggests that the P3 reflects the response of the LC-NE system to the outcome of internal decision-making processes and the consequent effects of noradrenergic potentiation of information processing.
Citations
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