Identifying the Neural Correlates of Mental Simulation in Multi-Step Planning

This is a human neuroimaging study consisting of two related experiments designed to characterize the neural correlates of mental simulation during multi-step planning in the "Four-in-a-Row" game. Planning is modeled as a feature-based heuristic evaluation combined with look-ahead (tree search) that evaluates candidate actions by simulating future states and outcomes.

Participants complete two sessions on successive days. Session 1 is a ~60-minute online behavioral session in which participants learn the rules of Four-in-a-Row (including a comprehension/quiz check) and play multiple games against computer opponents spanning difficulty levels. Behavioral data from Session 1 are used to fit a computational model of planning for each participant.

Session 2 is an in-person neuroimaging session with simultaneous eye tracking. In the MEG experiment, participants complete a feature localizer followed by a primary planning task in which they evaluate mid-game board positions with a fixed decision window (e.g., 15 seconds) to encourage planning. B2 In the fMRI experiment, participants complete a planning task while BOLD activity and eye movements are recorded, using a trial structure designed to dissociate model-derived quantities such as myopic value and tree-search value.

The main analyses will test where (fMRI) and when (MEG) the brain represents simulated future states, their values, and the evolving decision process, guided by participant-specific computational-model predictions.

Inclusion criteria

• N/A

Exclusion criteria

• History of neurological or psychiatric illness
• Vulnerable populations