Fig. 4: Neural activity related to the value of persistence and abandonment.

a, Results from the whole-brain analysis showing cluster-corrected peaks for the contrasts of current goal value–best alternative value (blue) and best alternative value–current goal value (orange). b, Modulation of value-related activity in ROIs over the course of goal pursuit, where the red dots in the brain images indicate the ROI location for activity shown in each plot. Here we show the effect of value on the BOLD signal (beta weight) as a function of the proportion of the goal completed, binned for illustration. Blue shows the impact of current goal value, while orange shows the impact of alternative goal value. Mean beta weight ± s.e.m. are depicted, while dots show beta weights for individual participants (n = 30 participants). In the striatum (left), there was a significant reduction in the representation of alternative goal value across goal progress (orange line; stars indicate significant interaction between alternative goal value and goal progress; Wilcoxon signed rank, Z = 2.37, P = 0.009, n = 30), parallel to the reduction in sensitivity to alternative goals seen in behaviour. In contrast, representations of the current goal value were maintained throughout goal pursuit in all ROIs.