  Value guides behavior. With knowledge of stimulus values and action
consequences, behaviors that maximize expected reward can be selected. Prior
work has identified several brain structures critical for representing both
stimuli and their values. Yet, it remains unclear how these structures interact
with one another and with other regions of the brain to support the dynamic
acquisition of value-related knowledge. Here, we use a network neuroscience
approach to examine how BOLD functional networks change as 20 healthy human
subjects learn the values of novel visual stimuli over the course of four
consecutive days. We show that connections between regions of the visual,
frontal, and cingulate cortices become increasingly stronger as learning
progresses, and that these changes are primarily confined to the temporal core
of the network. These results demonstrate that functional networks dynamically
track behavioral improvement in value judgments, and that interactions between
network communities form predictive biomarkers of learning.
