Dopamine Neurons Mull Over Your Options (IMAGE) University of Tsukuba Caption Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have found that dopamine neurons in the brain can represent the decision-making process when making economic choices. As monkeys contemplated whether or not to choose an item, a subset of dopamine neurons transitioned from indicating the item's value to indicating the monkey's ultimate decision. Encoding of the decision into these dopamine neurons happened earlier than it did in other parts of the brain related to economic decision-making. Credit University of Tsukuba Usage Restrictions Unauthorized use is prohibited License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.