It is an open question whether preferences for visual art can be lawfully predicted from the basic constituent elements of a visual image. Here, we developed and tested a computational framework to investigate how aesthetic values are formed. We show that it is possible to explain human preferences for a visual art piece based on a mixture of low- and high-level features of the image. Subjective value ratings could be predicted not only within but also across individuals, using a regression model with a common set of interpretable features. We also show that the features predicting aesthetic preference can emerge hierarchically within a deep convolutional neural network trained only for object recognition. Our findings suggest that human preferences for art can be explained at least in part as a systematic integration over the underlying visual features of an image.

Classic economists proposed that economic choices rely on the computation and comparison of subjective values. This hypothesis continues to inform economic theory and experimental research, but behavioral measures are ultimately not sufficient to prove the proposal. Consistent with the hypothesis, when agents make choices, neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) encode the subjective value of offered and chosen goods. Moreover, neuronal activity in this area suggests the formation of a decision. However, it is unclear whether these neural processes are causally related to choices. More generally, the evidence linking choices to value signals in the brain remains correlational. In my talk, I will present recent results showing that neuronal activity in OFC are causal to economic choices.

Animals are motivated to acquire knowledge. A particularly striking example is information seeking behavior: animals often seek out sensory cues that will inform them about the properties of uncertain future rewards, even when there is no way for them to use this information to influence the reward outcome, and even when this information comes at a considerable cost. Evidence from monkey electrophysiology and human fMRI studies suggests that orbitofrontal cortex and midbrain dopamine neurons represent the subjective value of knowledge during information seeking behavior. However, it remains unclear how the brain assigns value to information and how it integrates this with other incentives to drive behavior. We have therefore developed a task to test if information preferences are present in mice and study how informational value is imparted on stimuli. Mice are trained to enter a center port and receive an initial odor that instructs them to either go to an informative side port, go to an uninformative side port, or choose freely between them. The chosen side port then yields a second odor cue followed by a delayed probabilistic water reward. The informative port’s odor cue indicates whether the upcoming reward will be big or small. The uninformative port’s odor cue is uncorrelated with the trial outcome. Crucially, the two ports only differ in their odor cues, not in their water value since both offer identical probabilities of big and small rewards. We find that mice prefer the informative port. This preference is evident as a higher percentage choice of the informative port when given a free choice (67% +/- 1.7%, n = 14, p < 0.03), as well as by faster reaction times when instructed to go to the informative port (544ms +/- 21ms vs 795ms +/- 21ms, n = 14, p < 0.001). The preference for information is robust to within-animal reversals of informative and uninformative port locations, and, moreover, mice are willing to pay for information by choosing the informative port even if its reward amount is reduced to be substantially lower than the uninformative port. These behavioral observations suggest that odor stimuli are imparted with informational value as mice learn the information seeking task. We are currently imaging neural activity in orbitofrontal cortex with microendoscopes to identify changes in neural activity that may reflect value associated with the acquisition of knowledge.