Neural basis of concurrent deliberation toward a choice and confidence judgment

Decision confidence plays a key role in flexible behavior and (meta)cognition, but its underlying neural mechanisms remain elusive. To uncover the latent dynamics of confidence formation at the level of single neurons and population activity, we trained nonhuman primates to report choice and confidence with a single eye movement on every trial. Monkey behavior was well fit by a bounded accumulator model instantiating parallel processing of evidence, rejecting a serial model in which the choice is resolved first followed by post-decision accumulation for confidence. Neurons in area LIP reflected concurrent accumulation, showing covariation of choice and confidence signals across the population, and within-trial dynamics consistent with parallel updating at near-zero time lag. The results demonstrate that the primate brain can process a single stream of evidence in service of two computational goals simultaneously—a categorical decision and associated level of confidence—and illuminate a candidate neural substrate for this capacity.