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Confirmation bias through selective readout of information encoded in human parietal cortex

Author

Listed:
  • Hame Park

    (University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf)

  • Ayelet Arazi

    (University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf)

  • Bharath Chandra Talluri

    (University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
    National Institutes of Health)

  • Marco Celotto

    (University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Stefano Panzeri

    (University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf)

  • Alan A. Stocker

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Tobias H. Donner

    (University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf
    Humboldt-University Berlin)

Abstract

Decision-makers often process new evidence selectively, depending on their current beliefs about the world. We asked whether such confirmation biases result from biases in the encoding of sensory evidence in the brain, or alternatively in the utilization of encoded evidence for behavior. Human participants estimated the source of a sequence of visual-spatial evidence samples while we measured cortical population activity with magnetoencephalography. Halfway through the sequence, participants were prompted to judge the more likely source category. We find that processing of subsequent evidence depends on its consistency with the previously chosen category. Evidence encoded in parietal cortex contributes more to the estimation report when that evidence is consistent with the previous choice compared to when it contradicts that choice. Our results indicate that information contradicting pre-existing beliefs has little impact on subsequent behavior, despite being precisely encoded in the brain. This provides room for deliberative control to counteract confirmation biases.

Suggested Citation

  • Hame Park & Ayelet Arazi & Bharath Chandra Talluri & Marco Celotto & Stefano Panzeri & Alan A. Stocker & Tobias H. Donner, 2025. "Confirmation bias through selective readout of information encoded in human parietal cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-15, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-61010-x
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61010-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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