Unpacking workplace stress and forensic expert decision-making: From theory to practice.

Workplace stress can affect forensic experts' job satisfaction and performance, which holds financial and other implications for forensic service providers. Therefore, it is important to understand and manage workplace stress, but that is not simple or straightforward. This paper explores stress as a human factor that influences forensic expert decision-making. First, we identify and highlight three factors that mitigate decisions under stress conditions: nature of decision, individual differences, and context of decision. Second, we situate workplace stress in forensic science within the Challenge-Hindrance Stressor Framework. We argue that stressors in forensic science workplaces can have a positive or a negative impact, depending on the type, level, and context of stress. Developing an understanding of the stressors, their sources, and their possible impact can help forensic service providers and researchers to implement context-specific interventions to manage stress at work and optimize expert performance.

Emotional State Transitions in Trauma-Exposed Individuals With and Without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Importance: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is marked by the contrasting symptoms of hyperemotional reactivity and emotional numbing (ie, reduced emotional reactivity). Comprehending the mechanism that governs the transition between neutral and negative emotional states is crucial for developing targeted therapeutic strategies. Objectives: To explore whether individuals with PTSD experience a more pronounced shift between neutral and negative emotional states and how the intensity of emotional numbing symptoms impacts this shift. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used hierarchical bayesian modeling to fit a 5-parameter logistic regression to analyze the valence ratings of images. The aim was to compare the curve's slope between groups and explore its association with the severity of emotional numbing symptoms. The study was conducted online, using 35 images with a valence range from highly negative to neutral. The rating of these images was used to assess the emotional responses of the participants. The study recruited trauma-exposed individuals (witnessed or experienced life-threatening incident, violent assault, or someone being killed) between January 17 and March 8, 2023. Participants completed the PTSD Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fifth Edition) (DSM-5) (PCL-5). Exposure: On the basis of DSM-5 criteria (endorsing at least 1 symptom from clusters B and C and 2 from D and E), participants were categorized as having probable PTSD (pPTSD) or as trauma-exposed controls (TECs). Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was the slope parameter (b) of the logistic curve fitted to the valence rating. The slope parameter indicates the rate at which emotional response intensity changes with stimulus valence, reflecting how quickly the transition occurs between neutral and negatively valenced states. The secondary outcome was the association between emotional numbing (PCL-5 items 12-14) and the slope parameter. Results: A total of 1440 trauma-exposed individuals were included. The pPTSD group (n = 445) was younger (mean [SD] age, 36.1 [10.9] years) compared with the TEC group (mean [SD] age, 41.5 [13.3] years; P < .001). Sex distribution (427 women in the TEC group vs 230 in the pPTSD group) did not significantly differ between groups (P = .67). The pPTSD group exhibited a steeper slope (mean slope difference, -0.255; 89% highest posterior density [HPD], -0.340 to -0.171) compared with the controls. Across all individuals (n = 1440), a robust association was found between the slope and emotional numbing severity (mean [SD] additive value, 0.100 [0.031]; 89% HPD, 0.051-0.15). Additional analysis controlling for age confirmed the association between emotional numbing and transition sharpness (mean [SD] additive value, 0.108 [0.032]; 89% HPD, 0.056-0.159), without evidence of an age-related association (mean [SD] additive value, 0.031 [0.033]; 89% HPD, -0.022 to 0.083). Conclusions and Relevance: These findings support that individuals with PTSD undergo rapid transitions between neutral and negative emotional states, a phenomenon intensified by the severity of emotional numbing symptoms. Therapeutic interventions aimed at moderating these swift emotional transitions could potentially alleviate PTSD symptoms.

Manipulating the reliability of target-color information modulates value-driven attentional capture.

Previously rewarded stimuli slow response times (RTs) during visual search, despite being physically non-salient and no longer task-relevant or rewarding. Such value-driven attentional capture (VDAC) has been measured in a training-test paradigm. In the training phase, the search target is rendered in one of two colors (one predicting high reward and the other low reward). In this study, we modified this traditional training phase to include pre-cues that signaled reliable or unreliable information about the trial-to-trial color of the training phase search target. Reliable pre-cues indicated the upcoming target color with certainty, whereas unreliable pre-cues indicated the target was equally likely to be one of two distinct colors. Thus reliable and unreliable pre-cues provided certain and uncertain information, respectively, about the magnitude of the upcoming reward. We then tested for VDAC in a traditional test phase. We found that unreliably pre-cued distractors slowed RTs and drew more initial eye movements during search for the test-phase target, relative to reliably pre-cued distractors, thus providing novel evidence for an influence of information reliability on attentional capture. That said, our experimental manipulation also eliminated value-dependency (i.e., slowed RTs when a high-reward-predicting distractor was present relative to a low-reward-predicting distractor) for both kinds of distractors. Taken together, these results suggest that target-color uncertainty, rather than reward magnitude, played a critical role in modulating the allocation of value-driven attention in this study.

Structural Neuroimaging of Hippocampus and Amygdala Subregions in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Scoping Review.

Numerous studies have explored the relationship between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the hippocampus and the amygdala because both regions are implicated in the disorder's pathogenesis and pathophysiology. Nevertheless, those key limbic regions consist of functionally and cytoarchitecturally distinct substructures that may play different roles in the etiology of PTSD. Spurred by the availability of automatic segmentation software, structural neuroimaging studies of human hippocampal and amygdala subregions have proliferated in recent years. Here, we present a preregistered scoping review of the existing structural neuroimaging studies of the hippocampus and amygdala subregions in adults diagnosed with PTSD. A total of 3513 studies assessing subregion volumes were identified, 1689 of which were screened, and 21 studies were eligible for this review (total N = 2876 individuals). Most studies examined hippocampal subregions and reported decreased CA1, CA3, dentate gyrus, and subiculum volumes in PTSD. Fewer studies investigated amygdala subregions and reported altered lateral, basal, and central nuclei volumes in PTSD. This review further highlights the conceptual and methodological limitations of the current literature and identifies future directions to increase understanding of the distinct roles of hippocampal and amygdalar subregions in posttraumatic psychopathology.

Effects of a dissociative drug on fronto-limbic resting-state functional connectivity in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized controlled pilot study.

RATIONALE: A subanesthetic dose of ketamine, a non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist, elicits dissociation in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), who also often suffer from chronic dissociative symptoms in daily life. These debilitating symptoms have not only been linked to worse PTSD trajectories, but also to increased resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) between medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and amygdala, supporting the conceptualization of dissociation as emotion overmodulation. Yet, as studies were observational, causal evidence is lacking. OBJECTIVES: The present randomized controlled pilot study examines the effect of ketamine, a dissociative drug, on RSFC between mPFC subregions and amygdala in individuals with PTSD. METHODS: Twenty-six individuals with PTSD received either ketamine (0.5mg/kg; n = 12) or the control drug midazolam (0.045mg/kg; n = 14) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). RSFC between amygdala and mPFC subregions, i.e., ventromedial PFC (vmPFC), dorsomedial PFC (dmPFC) and anterior-medial PFC (amPFC), was assessed at baseline and during intravenous drug infusion. RESULTS: Contrary to pre-registered predictions, ketamine did not promote a greater increase in RSFC between amygdala and mPFC subregions from baseline to infusion compared to midazolam. Instead, ketamine elicited a stronger transient decrease in vmPFC-amygdala RSFC compared to midazolam. CONCLUSIONS: A dissociative drug did not increase fronto-limbic RSFC in individuals with PTSD. These preliminary experimental findings contrast with prior correlative findings and call for further exploration and, potentially, a more differentiated view on the neurobiological underpinning of dissociative phenomena in PTSD.

Neural patterns differentiate traumatic from sad autobiographical memories in PTSD.

For people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), recall of traumatic memories often displays as intrusions that differ profoundly from processing of 'regular' negative memories. These mnemonic features fueled theories speculating a unique cognitive state linked with traumatic memories. Yet, to date, little empirical evidence supports this view. Here we examined neural activity of patients with PTSD who were listening to narratives depicting their own memories. An intersubject representational similarity analysis of cross-subject semantic content and neural patterns revealed a differentiation in hippocampal representation by narrative type: semantically similar, sad autobiographical memories elicited similar neural representations across participants. By contrast, within the same individuals, semantically similar trauma memories were not represented similarly. Furthermore, we were able to decode memory type from hippocampal multivoxel patterns. Finally, individual symptom severity modulated semantic representation of the traumatic narratives in the posterior cingulate cortex. Taken together, these findings suggest that traumatic memories are an alternative cognitive entity that deviates from memory per se.

Long term structural and functional neural changes following a single infusion of Ketamine in PTSD.

NMDA receptor antagonists have a vital role in extinction, learning, and reconsolidation processes. During the reconsolidation window, memories are activated into a labile state and can be reconsolidated in an altered form. This concept might have significant clinical implications in treating PTSD. In this pilot study we tested the potential of a single infusion of ketamine, followed by brief exposure therapy, to enhance post-retrieval extinction of PTSD trauma memories. 27 individuals diagnosed with PTSD were randomly assigned to receive either ketamine (0.5 mg/kg 40 min; N = 14) or midazolam (0.045 mg/kg; N = 13) after retrieval of the traumatic memory. 24 h following infusion, participants received a four-day trauma-focused psychotherapy. Symptoms and brain activity were assessed before treatment, at the end of treatment, and at 30-day follow-up. Amygdala activation to trauma scripts (a major biomarker of fear response) served as the main study outcome. Although PTSD symptoms improved equally in both groups, post-treatment, ketamine recipients showed a lower amygdala (-0.33, sd = 0.13, 95%HDI [-0.56,-0.04]) and hippocampus (-0.3 (sd = 0.19), 95%HDI [-0.65, 0.04]; marginal effect) reactivation to trauma memories, compared to midazolam recipients. Post-retrieval ketamine administration was also associated with decreased connectivity between the amygdala and hippocampus (-0.28, sd = 0.11, 95%HDI [-0.46, -0.11]), with no change in amygdala-vmPFC connectivity. Moreover, reduction in fractional anisotropy in bi-lateral uncinate fasciculus was seen in the Ketamine recipients compared with the midazolam recipients (right: post-treatment: -0.01108, 95% HDI [-0.0184,-0.003]; follow-up: -0.0183, 95% HDI [-0.02719,-0.0107]; left: post-treatment: -0.019, 95% HDI [-0.028,-0.011]; follow-up: -0.017, 95% HDI [-0.026,-0.007]). Taken together it is possible that ketamine may enhance post-retrieval extinction of the original trauma memories in humans. These preliminary findings show promising direction toward the capacity to rewrite human traumatic memories and modulate the fear response for at least 30 days post-extinction. When combined with psychotherapy for PTSD, further investigation of ketamine dose, timing of administration, and frequency of administration, is warranted.

Uncertainty in learning and decision-making: Introduction to the special issue.

Uncertainty is a fundamental aspect of the environment. This special issue presents interdisciplinary research on decision-making and learning under uncertainty. Thirty-one research and review papers report the findings of the behavioral, neural, and computational bases of coping with uncertainty, as well as changes of these mechanisms in development, aging, and psychopathology. Taken together, this special issue presents extant research, identifies gaps in our knowledge, and offers paths for future directions.

Neural valuation of rewards and punishments in posttraumatic stress disorder: a computational approach.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with changes in fear learning and decision-making, suggesting involvement of the brain's valuation system. Here we investigate the neural mechanisms of subjective valuation of rewards and punishments in combat veterans. In a functional MRI study, male combat veterans with a wide range of posttrauma symptoms (N = 48, Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, CAPS-IV) made a series of choices between sure and uncertain monetary gains and losses. Activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) during valuation of uncertain options was associated with PTSD symptoms, an effect which was consistent for gains and losses, and specifically driven by numbing symptoms. In an exploratory analysis, computational modeling of choice behavior was used to estimate the subjective value of each option. The neural encoding of subjective value varied as a function of symptoms. Most notably, veterans with PTSD exhibited enhanced representations of the saliency of gains and losses in the neural valuation system, especially in ventral striatum. These results suggest a link between the valuation system and the development and maintenance of PTSD, and demonstrate the significance of studying reward and punishment processing within subject.

Evaluating the Evidence for Brain-Based Biotypes of Psychiatric Vulnerability in the Acute Aftermath of Trauma.

OBJECTIVE: The weak link between subjective symptom-based diagnostic methods for posttraumatic psychopathology and objectively measured neurobiological indices forms a barrier to the development of effective personalized treatments. To overcome this problem, recent studies have aimed to stratify psychiatric disorders by identifying consistent subgroups based on objective neural markers. Along these lines, a promising 2021 study by Stevens et al. identified distinct brain-based biotypes associated with different longitudinal patterns of posttraumatic symptoms. Here, the authors conducted a conceptual nonexact replication of that study using a comparable data set from a multimodal longitudinal study of recent trauma survivors. METHODS: A total of 130 participants (mean age, 33.61 years, SD=11.21; 48% women) admitted to a general hospital emergency department following trauma exposure underwent demographic, clinical, and neuroimaging assessments 1, 6, and 14 months after trauma. All analyses followed the pipeline outlined in the original study and were conducted in collaboration with its authors. RESULTS: Task-based functional MRI conducted 1 month posttrauma was used to identify four clusters of individuals based on profiles of neural activity reflecting threat and reward reactivity. These clusters were not identical to the previously identified brain-based biotypes and were not associated with prospective symptoms of posttraumatic psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these findings suggest that the original brain-based biotypes of trauma resilience and psychopathology may not generalize to other populations. Thus, caution is warranted when attempting to define subtypes of psychiatric vulnerability using neural indices before treatment implications can be fully realized. Additional replication studies are needed to identify more stable and generalizable neuroimaging-based biotypes of posttraumatic psychopathology.

Emotional numbing in PTSD is associated with lower amygdala reactivity to pain.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with altered pain perception, namely increased pain threshold and higher pain response. While pain consists of physiological and affective components, affective components are often overlooked. Similar patterns of increased threshold-high response in PTSD were shown in response to emotional stimuli, i.e., emotional numbing. As both emotional numbing and pain processing are modulated by the amygdala, we aimed to examine whether individuals diagnosed with PTSD show lower amygdala activation to pain compared with combat controls, and whether the amygdala responses to pain correlates with emotional numbing. To do so, two independent samples of veterans (original study: 44 total (20 PTSD); conceptual replication study: 40 total (20 PTSD)) underwent threat conditioning, where a conditioned stimulus (CS+; visual stimulus) was paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US; electric-shock). We contrasted the amygdala activity to the CS + US pairing with the CS+ presented alone and correlated it with emotional numbing severity. In both samples, the PTSD group showed a robust reduction in amygdala reactivity to shock compared to the Combat Controls group. Furthermore, amygdala activation was negatively correlated with emotional numbing severity. These patterns were unique to the amygdala, and did not appear in comparison to a control region, the insula, a pivotal region for the processing of pain. To conclude, amygdala response to pain is lower in individuals with PTSD, and is associated with emotional numbing symptoms. Lower amygdala reactivity to mild pain may contribute to the "all-or-none" reaction to stressful situations often observed in PTSD.

A Neuroeconomics Approach to Obesity.

Obesity is a heterogeneous condition that is affected by physiological, behavioral, and environmental factors. Value-based decision making is a useful framework for integrating these factors at the individual level. The disciplines of behavioral economics and reinforcement learning provide tools for identifying specific cognitive and motivational processes that may contribute to the development and maintenance of obesity. Neuroeconomics complements these disciplines by studying the neural mechanisms underlying these processes. We surveyed recent literature on individual decision characteristics that are most frequently implicated in obesity: discounting the value of future outcomes, attitudes toward uncertainty, and learning from rewards and punishments. Our survey highlighted both consistent and inconsistent behavioral findings. These findings underscore the need to examine multiple processes within individuals to identify unique behavioral profiles associated with obesity. Such individual characterization will inform future studies on the neurobiology of obesity as well as the design of effective interventions that are individually tailored.

The Reward System and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Does Trauma Affect the Way We Interact With Positive Stimuli?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly prevalent disorder and a highly debilitating condition. Although anhedonia is an important construct of the disorder, the relationship between PTSD and reward functioning is still under-researched. To date, the majority of research on PTSD has focused on fear: fear learning, maintenance, and extinction. Here we review the relevant literature-including clinical observations, self-report data, neuroimaging research, and animal studies-in order to examine the potential effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on the reward system. Our current lack of sufficient insight into how trauma affects the reward system is one possible hindrance to clinical progress. The current review highlights the need for further investigation into the complex relationship between exposure to trauma and the reward system to further our understandings of the ethology of PTSD.

Evidence for a minimal role of stimulus awareness in reversal of threat learning.

In an ever-changing environment, survival depends on learning which stimuli represent threat, and also on updating such associations when circumstances shift. It has been claimed that humans can acquire physiological responses to threat-associated stimuli even when they are unaware of them, but the role of awareness in updating threat contingencies remains unknown. This complex process-generating novel responses while suppressing learned ones-relies on distinct neural mechanisms from initial learning, and has only been shown with awareness. Can it occur unconsciously? Here, we present evidence that threat reversal may not require awareness. Participants underwent classical threat conditioning to visual stimuli that were suppressed from awareness. One of two images was paired with an electric shock; halfway through the experiment, contingencies were reversed and the shock was paired with the other image. Despite variations in suppression across participants, we found that physiological responses reflected changes in stimulus-threat pairings independently of stimulus awareness. These findings suggest that unconscious affective processing may be sufficiently flexible to adapt to changing circumstances.

Neural Computations of Threat.

A host of learning, memory, and decision-making processes form the individual's response to threat and may be disrupted in anxiety and post-trauma psychopathology. Here we review the neural computations of threat, from the first encounter with a dangerous situation, through learning, storing, and updating cues that predict it, to making decisions about the optimal course of action. The overview highlights the interconnected nature of these processes and their reliance on shared neural and computational mechanisms. We propose an integrative approach to the study of threat-related processes, in which specific computations are studied across the various stages of threat experience rather than in isolation. This approach can generate new insights about the evolution, diagnosis, and treatment of threat-related psychopathology.

Age-Related Changes in the Neural Processes of Reward-Directed Action and Inhibition of Action.

Aging is associated with structural and functional brain changes which may impact the regulation of motivated behaviors, including both action and inhibition of action. As behavioral regulation is often exercised in response to reward, it remains unclear how aging may influence reward-directed action and inhibition of action differently. Here we addressed this issue with the functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 72 participants (aged 21-74) performing a reward go/no-go (GNG) task with approximately 2/3 go and 1/3 no-go trials. The go and no-go success trials were rewarded with a dollar or a nickel, and the incorrect responses were penalized. An additional block of the GNG task without reward/punishment served as the control to account for age-related slowing in processing speed. The results showed a prolonged response time (RT) in rewarded (vs. control) go trials with increasing age. Whole-brain multiple regressions of rewarded (vs. control) go trials against age and RT both revealed an age-related reduced activity of the anterior insula, middle frontal gyrus, and rostral anterior cingulate cortex. Furthermore, activity from these regions mediated the relationship between age and go performance. During rewarded (vs. control) no-go trials, age was associated with increased accuracy rate but decreased activation in the medial superior frontal and postcentral gyri. As these regions also exhibited age-related activity reduction during rewarded go, the finding suggests aging effects on common brain substrates that regulate both action and action inhibition. Taken together, age shows a broad negative modulation on neural activations but differential effects on performance during rewarded action and inhibition of action.

Learning about the Ellsberg Paradox reduces, but does not abolish, ambiguity aversion.

Ambiguity aversion-the tendency to avoid options whose outcome probabilities are unknown-is a ubiquitous phenomenon. While in some cases ambiguity aversion is an adaptive strategy, in many situations it leads to suboptimal decisions, as illustrated by the famous Ellsberg Paradox. Behavioral interventions for reducing ambiguity aversion should therefore be of substantial practical value. Here we test a simple intervention, aimed at reducing ambiguity aversion in an experimental design, where aversion to ambiguity leads to reduced earnings. Participants made a series of choices between a reference lottery with a 50% chance of winning $5, and another lottery, which offered more money, but whose outcome probability was either lower than 50% (risky lottery) or not fully known (ambiguous lottery). Similar to previous studies, participants exhibited both risk and ambiguity aversion in their choices. They then went through one of three interventions. Two groups of participants learned about the Ellsberg Paradox and their own suboptimal choices, either by actively calculating the objective winning probability of the ambiguous lotteries, or by observing these calculations. A control group learned about base-rate neglect, which was irrelevant to the task. Following the intervention, participants again made a series of choices under risk and ambiguity. Participants who learned about the Ellsberg Paradox were more tolerant of ambiguity, yet ambiguity aversion was not completely abolished. At the same time, these participants also exhibited reduced aversion to risk, suggesting inappropriate generalization of learning to an irrelevant decision domain. Our results highlight the challenge for behavioral interventions: generating a strong, yet specific, behavioral change.

The effects of age on cerebral responses to self-initiated actions during social interactions: An exploratory study.

Self-initiated action is critical to social interaction and individuals with social anxiety find it particularly difficult to initiate social interactions. We showed earlier that social exclusion encumbered self-initiated actions in the Cyberball task in young adults. Here, we examined whether the behavioral performance and regional responses during self-initiated actions vary with age in 53 participants (21-74 years; 27 men). Behaviorally, participants were slower in tossing the ball during exclusion (EX) than during fair game (FG) sessions in both men and women. In women but not in men the reaction time (RT) burden (RT_EX - RT_FG; RT prolonged during social exclusion) of ball toss was positively correlated with age despite no observed sex difference in Social Interaction Anxiety Scale scores. The pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, thalamus, left occipital cortex (OC) and left insula/orbitofrontal cortex responded to ball toss in EX vs. FG in negative correlation with age in women but not in men. Further, the activation of left OC fully mediated the relationship between age and RT burden in women. Thus, older women are more encumbered in self-initiated action during social exclusion, although this behavioral burden is not reflected in subjective reports of social anxiety. Age-related diminution in OC activities may reflect the neural processes underlying the difficulty in initiating social interactions in women. Together, the findings identified age-sensitive behavioral and neural processes of self-initiated action in the Cyberball task and suggest the importance of considering age and sex differences in studies of social interaction.

The effects of age on reward magnitude processing in the monetary incentive delay task.

Previous studies have suggested age-related differences in reward-directed behavior and cerebral processes in support of the age effects. However, it remains unclear how age may influence the processing of reward magnitude. Here, with 54 volunteers (22-74 years of age) participating in the Monetary Incentive Delay Task (MIDT) with explicit cues ($1, ¢1, or nil) and timed response to win, we characterized brain activations during anticipation and feedback and the effects of age on these regional activations. Behaviorally, age was associated with less reaction time (RT) difference between dollar and cent trials, as a result of slower response to the dollar trials; i.e., age was positively correlated with RT dollar - RT cent, with RT nil as a covariate. Both age and the RT difference ($1 - ¢1) were correlated with diminished activation of the right caudate head, right anterior insula, supplementary motor area (SMA)/pre-SMA, visual cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, right superior/middle frontal gyri, and left primary motor cortex during anticipation of $1 vs. ¢1 reward. Further, these regional activities mediated the age effects on RT differences. In responses to outcomes, age was associated with decreases in regional activations to dollar vs. cent loss but only because of higher age-related responses to cent losses. Together, these findings suggest age-related differences in sensitivity to the magnitude of reward. With lower cerebral responses during anticipation to win large rewards and higher responses to outcomes of small loss, aging incurs a constricted sensitivity to the magnitude of reward.

The dorsomedial prefrontal cortex computes task-invariant relative subjective value for self and other.

Few studies have addressed the neural computations underlying decisions made for others despite the importance of this ubiquitous behavior. Using participant-specific behavioral modeling with univariate and multivariate fMRI approaches, we investigated the neural correlates of decision-making for self and other in two independent tasks, including intertemporal and risky choice. Modeling subjective valuation indicated that participants distinguished between themselves and others with dissimilar preferences. Activity in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was consistently modulated by relative subjective value. Multi-voxel pattern analysis indicated that activity in the dmPFC uniquely encoded relative subjective value and generalized across self and other and across both tasks. Furthermore, agent cross-decoding accuracy between self and other in the dmPFC was related to self-reported social attitudes. These findings indicate that the dmPFC emerges as a medial prefrontal node that utilizes a task-invariant mechanism for computing relative subjective value for self and other.