Meta-Analysis Reveals That Explore–Exploit Decisions Are Dissociable by Activation in the Dorsal Lateral Prefrontal Cortex, Anterior Insula, and Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Abstract

Explore–exploit research faces challenges in generalizability due to a limited theoretical basis for exploration and exploitation. Neuroimaging can help identify whether explore–exploit decisions involve an opponent processing system to address this issue. Thus, we conducted a coordinate-based meta-analysis (N = 23 studies) finding activation in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during exploration versus exploitation, which provides some evidence for opponent processing. However, the conjunction of explore–exploit decisions was associated with activation in the anterior cingulate cortex and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex, suggesting that these brain regions do not engage in opponent processing. Furthermore, exploratory analyses revealed heterogeneity in brain responses between task types during exploration and exploitation respectively. Coupled with results suggesting that activation during exploration and exploitation decisions is generally more similar than it is different suggests that there remain significant challenges in characterizing explore–exploit decision-making. Nonetheless, dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior insula, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activation differentiate explore and exploit decisions, and identifying these responses can aid in targeted interventions aimed at manipulating these decisions.