The network architecture of value learning

Abstract: Value guides behavior. With knowledge of stimulus values and action consequences, behaviors that maximize expected reward can be selected. Prior work has identified several brain structures critical for representing both stimuli and their values. Yet, it remains unclear how these structures interact with one another and with other regions of the brain to support the dynamic acquisition of value-related knowledge. Here, we use a network neuroscience approach to examine how BOLD functional networks change as 20 healthy human subjects learn the values of novel visual stimuli over the course of four consecutive days. We show that connections between regions of the visual, frontal, and cingulate cortices become increasingly stronger as learning progresses, and that these changes are primarily confined to the temporal core of the network. These results demonstrate that functional networks dynamically track behavioral improvement in value judgments, and that interactions between network communities form predictive biomarkers of learning.