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Local resource depletion hypothesis as a mechanism for action selection in the brain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2013

Aneta Brzezicka ,
Jan Kamiński  and
Andrzej Wróbel
Aneta Brzezicka
Affiliation:
Interdisciplinary Center for Applied Cognitive Studies, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, 03-815 Warsaw, Poland. abrzezi2@swps.edu.plhttp://www.icacs.swps.edu.pl
Jan Kamiński
Affiliation:
Department of Neurophysiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland. j.kamiński@nencki.gov.plwrobel@nencki.gov.pl
Andrzej Wróbel
Affiliation:
Department of Neurophysiology, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland. j.kamiński@nencki.gov.plwrobel@nencki.gov.pl
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Abstract

As a comment on Kurzban et al.'s opportunity cost model, we propose an alternative view of mental effort and the action selection mechanism in the brain. Our hypothesis utilizes local resource depletion within neuronal networks, which justifies from a neurophysiological perspective why mental fatigue diminishes after switching to a novel task and explains action selection by means of neural competition theory.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 36 , Issue 6 , December 2013 , pp. 682 - 683
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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