Cost-Benefit Decision Circulatory Proposed Modulatory Role for Acetylcholine

In order to select which action should be taken, an animal must weigh the costs and benefits of possible outcomes associate with each action. Such decisions, called cost benefit decisions, likely involve several cognitive processes (including memory) and a vast neural circuitry. Rodent models have allowed research to begin to probe the neural basis of three forms of cost benefit decision making: effort-, delay-, and risk-based decision making. In this review, we detail the current understanding of the functional circuits that subserve each form of decision making. We highlight the extensive literature by detailing the ability of dopamine to influence decisions by modulating structures within these circuits. Since acetylcholine projects to all of the same important structures, we propose several ways in which the cholinergic system may play a local modulatory role that will allow it to shape these behaviors. A greater understanding of the contribution of the cholinergic system to cost-benefit decisions will permit us to better link the decision and memory processes, and this will help us to better understand and/or treat individuals with deficits in a number of higher cognitive functions including decision making, learning, memory, and language.