This study investigates the neural basis of willingness-to-pay (WTP) in economic transactions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The researchers scanned the brains of hungry subjects while they placed bids for the right to eat different foods in a Becker–DeGroot–Marshak auction. The results showed that activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) encoded subjects' WTP for the items. These findings support the hypothesis that the mOFC encodes the value of goals in decision-making. The study used a parametric experimental design to distinguish areas that encode WTP from those that are active during economic choice but do not correlate with WTP. The results showed that activity in the mOFC was positively correlated with WTP during free-bid trials, but not during forced-bid trials. This suggests that the mOFC is involved in the computation of WTP during economic decisions. Additionally, activity in the DLPFC was also correlated with WTP, consistent with previous studies showing that DLPFC neurons encode aspects of decision or incentive value. The study also compared its findings with those of Knutson et al. (2007), who found a correlation with nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activity but not with OFC activity. The difference in results is likely due to subtle but important differences in the computations made in the two tasks. In the Knutson et al. study, the value of purchasing an item was the WTP minus the price, while in the current study, all the information needed to compute the WTP was revealed at the beginning of the trials. The study suggests that the mOFC plays a critical role in goal-directed behavior by encoding economic value. The mOFC is connected to the DLPFC, which is heavily connected with motor output areas. This suggests that economic values might be first computed in the mOFC and then passed to the DLPFC to influence motor commands. The study also highlights the importance of understanding how the brain evaluates potential goals and outcomes at the time of decision-making, and how other cognitive, emotional, and visceral processes affect the computation of economic value.This study investigates the neural basis of willingness-to-pay (WTP) in economic transactions using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The researchers scanned the brains of hungry subjects while they placed bids for the right to eat different foods in a Becker–DeGroot–Marshak auction. The results showed that activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) encoded subjects' WTP for the items. These findings support the hypothesis that the mOFC encodes the value of goals in decision-making. The study used a parametric experimental design to distinguish areas that encode WTP from those that are active during economic choice but do not correlate with WTP. The results showed that activity in the mOFC was positively correlated with WTP during free-bid trials, but not during forced-bid trials. This suggests that the mOFC is involved in the computation of WTP during economic decisions. Additionally, activity in the DLPFC was also correlated with WTP, consistent with previous studies showing that DLPFC neurons encode aspects of decision or incentive value. The study also compared its findings with those of Knutson et al. (2007), who found a correlation with nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activity but not with OFC activity. The difference in results is likely due to subtle but important differences in the computations made in the two tasks. In the Knutson et al. study, the value of purchasing an item was the WTP minus the price, while in the current study, all the information needed to compute the WTP was revealed at the beginning of the trials. The study suggests that the mOFC plays a critical role in goal-directed behavior by encoding economic value. The mOFC is connected to the DLPFC, which is heavily connected with motor output areas. This suggests that economic values might be first computed in the mOFC and then passed to the DLPFC to influence motor commands. The study also highlights the importance of understanding how the brain evaluates potential goals and outcomes at the time of decision-making, and how other cognitive, emotional, and visceral processes affect the computation of economic value.