?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=On+the+neural+computation+of+utility%3A+implications+from+studies+of+brain+stimulation+reward&rft.creator=Shizgal%2C+Peter&rft.subject=Behavioral+Neuroscience&rft.subject=Behavioral+Biology&rft.subject=Physiological+Psychology&rft.subject=Psychobiology&rft.description=1.+Like+other+vertebrates%2C+from+goldfish+to+humans%2C+rats+will+work+in+order+to+deliver+electrical+stimulation+to+certain+brain+sites.+Although+the+stimulation+produces+no+evident+physiological+benefit%2C+it+is+sought+out+avidly%2C+as+if+it+were+a+biologically+significant+resource.+Thus%2C+it+has+long+been+thought+that+the+rewarding+stimulation+activates+neural+circuitry+involved+in+the+evaluation+and+selection+of+goals.+2.+Computing+the+utility+of+goal+objects+involves+a+tightly+integrated+set+of+perceptual%2C+cognitive%2C+and+motivational+mechanisms.+I+argue+that+rewarding+electrical+brain+stimulation+engages+only+a+subset+of+these+mechanisms.+If+so%2C+comparison+of+the+ways+in+which+the+utility+of+electrical+brain+stimulation+and+natural+reinforcers+are+computed+may+highlight+operating+principles+and+isolate+components+of+the+computational+mechanisms.+3.+In+the+view+proposed+here%2C+information+about+goal+objects+and+consummatory+acts+is+processed%2C+in+parallel%2C+in+three+different+channels.+3.1.+Perceptual+processing+indicates+what+and+where+the+goal+object+is.+3.2.+A+stopwatch-like+interval+timer+predicts+when+or+how+often+the+goal+object+will+be+available.+3.3.+Under+the+influence+of+information+about+the+current+physiological+state%2C+an+evaluative+channel+returns+a+subjective+weighting+of+strength+variables+such+as+the+concentration+of+a+sucrose+solution+or+the+temperature+of+an+air+current.+3.4.+The+output+of+these+channels+is+recorded+in+multidimensional+records+that+include+3.4.1.+information+of+perceptual+origin+about+amount+and+kind+(e.g.%2C+food%2C+water%2Cor+salt)+3.4.2.+information+from+the+timer+about+rate+and+delay+3.4.3.+a+subjective+assessment+of+intensity+provided+by+the+evaluative+channel+4.+This+chapter+addresses+the+relationships+between+brain+stimulation+reward+(BSR)%2C+the+perceptual%2C+interval+timing%2C+and+evaluative+channels%2C+and+the+variants+of+utility+proposed+by+Kahneman+and+his+coworkers+on+the+basis+of+their+studies+of+evaluation+and+choice+in+human+subjects.+4.1.+It+is+argued+that+the+output+of+the+evaluative+channel+can+be+manifested+in+experience+as+pleasure+or+suffering+but+that+awareness+is+not+necessary+in+order+for+this+signal+to+influence+action.+5.+The+neural+signal+injected+by+rewarding+electrical+stimulation+is+portrayed+as+providing+meaningful+information+about+rate%2C+delay+and+intensity+but+not+about+amount+or+kind.+This+proposal+is+used+to+account+for+5.1.+competition+and+summation+between+BSR+and+natural+rewards+5.2.+differential+effects+of+physiological+feedback+on+the+utility+of+BSR+and+natural+rewards+5.3.+matching+of+behavioral+allocation+to+the+relative+rates+and+intensities+of+BSR+5.4.+differences+in+the+elasticity+of+demand+for+BSR+and+food+in+a+closed+economy+5.5.+the+high+substitutability+of+BSR+for+food+and+water+in+an+open+economy+6.+The+powerful+aftereffect+of+BSR+that+potentiates+efforts+to+obtain+additional+stimulation+is+related+to+expectancy.&rft.publisher=Russell+Sage+Foundation&rft.contributor=Kahneman%2C+Daniel&rft.contributor=Diener%2C+Edward&rft.contributor=Schwarz%2C+Norbert&rft.date=1999&rft.type=Book+Chapter&rft.type=NonPeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F740%2F1%2FWell-Being_v4_15.html&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F740%2F4%2Fv4_15.PDF&rft.identifier=++Shizgal%2C+Peter++(1999)+On+the+neural+computation+of+utility%3A+implications+from+studies+of+brain+stimulation+reward.++%5BBook+Chapter%5D++++(In+Press)++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F740%2F