COG NEURO IN SOCIETY

Question 1

Brains
are
more
believable?

Answer 1

Experiment #2:
– Subjects read fictional articles summarizing cog neuro research that included:
• No image
• Brain image
• Bar graph of critical results
– Asked to rate soundness
of scientific reasoning
• Articles w/ brain images rated better

Experiment #2:
– Tested naïve adults, students in neuroscience course, & neuroscience experts

– Brief descriptions of psychological phenomena
followed by:
• Good vs bad explanation
• w/ neuroscience or w/out neuroscience information

– Neuroscience info
was irrelevant

– How satisfying was the explanation?

Students were completely deceived; Novices were deceived as well, and Experts did not take the bait at all

Question 2

Neuro–]MarkeLng

Answer 2

. Why do consumers make the decisions they do?
. What part of the brain is telling them to do it?
. How can we use that information to make more money?
. Just call yourself a
”neuro”-marketing company

“Neural Correlates of Behavioral Preference for Culturally Familiar Drinks”

Question 3

Neuro–]Economics

Answer 3

– How do we make decisions?
. Perceptual decisions
(is that line tilted left or right?)
. Cognitive decisions
(should I choose a candy bar or carrot?)
. Gambling decisions
(should I take $50 now or bet that I will get more later?)
. Social decisions
(prisoner's dilemma:
cooperate for mutual gain?)
. Game theory

– Neural basis of decision-making

– Intersection of psychology, neuroscience, and economics

Question 4

Neuroeconomics:

Perceptual decision-making

Answer 4

• Which direction are the dots moving?
• The more coherent (easier) the motion is, the faster the decision
• Neurons in LIP (parietal cortex) increase firing rate during motion period
• More coherent motion means faster increase in firing rate
• Can predict decision based on LIP activity

Question 5

Neuroeconomics:

Cognitive Decisions

Answer 5

• Choice: which of these food items do you want?
• Model the choice behavior: watch as evidence accumulates for 1 choice vs other
• Neurons work this way, too

Question 6

Neuroeconomics:

Gambling Decisions

Answer 6

• Choice based on avoiding loss&raquo_space;>amygdala

* Choice based on rational decision­‐making&raquo_space;>orbitofrontal cortex

Question 7

Neuroeconomics:
Social Decisions
(Prisoner’s Dilemma)

Answer 7

• Mutual cooperation activates reward areas
• Subjects who found mutual cooperation more rewarding&raquo_space;greater activation in
striatum

Question 8

Neuro-Politics

Answer 8

A “research article” published in the NYTimes
– “In anticipation of the 2008 presidential election, we used
functional magnetic resonance
imaging to watch the brains of a
group of swing voters as they responded to the leading presidential candidates. Our results reveal some voter impressions on which this election may well turn.”

– http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/opinion/
11freedman.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

“Photos of Hillary Clinton elicited increased acLvity in the anterior cingulate cortex, a part of
the brain that processes conflicLng impulses, in swing voters who reported having an unfavorable
opinion of her.”

“Subjects who had an unfavorable view of John Edwards responded to pictures of him with feelings of
disgust, evidenced by increased acLvity in the insula, a brain area associated with negative
emotions.”

“Looking at photos of Mitt Romney led to acLvity in the amygdala, a
brain area linked to anxiety.”

What could possibly be wrong with this study?
– h`p://www.nyLmes.com/2007/11/14/opinion/
lweb14brain.html

Question 9

Neuro-Sports

Fans?

Answer 9

Us Versus Them: Social Identity Shapes Neural Responses to Intergroup
Competition and Harm

Brain ac3vity correlated with reported feelings of pleasure
/pain at positive/negative
outcomes

Subjects: Avid fans of Red Sox or Yankees
Viewed baseball plays while being scanned

Negative outcomes:
(failure of favored team, success of rival team)
»> ACC & Insula

Question 10

fMRI & Lie Detection:

Guilty Knowledge Task

Answer 10

Guilty Knowledge Task
– Before scan, participant given envelope with $20 and a playing card
– Told they could keep the money if they succeeded in concealing the identity of their card from “computer”
– fMRI task: show sequence of cards: “Is this your card?”
• Instructed to lie on certain trials (to conceal identity) and truth on other trials

Question 11

fMRI & Lie Detection:

Lie>Truth

Answer 11

• ACC
• SFG (superior frontal gyrus)
• Prefrontal cortex
• Premotor cortex
• Parietal cortex

Problems with this finding?
-What else does frontal cortex do?

Question 12

Neuroscience & the Law

Answer 12

• Should fMRI be admissible evidence in court?
– E.g. Should this person be held responsible for their behavior? Are they likely to commit future crimes? Etc

• Problems:
– Individual variability in activation (group ≠ individual)
– Individual variability in connectivity
– Does what’s measured in brain at time of scanning reflect what was happening during crime?
– Brain activity sensitive to caffeine, tobacco, drugs, alcohol, fatigue, etc
– Intra­‐individual variability: Brain activity & performance can vary day to day
– Brains are sexy (“evidence” involving brain images might be given too much weight)

• Does an “abnormal” brain scan mean the person will show abnormal behavior?

Question 13

The dead fish study

Answer 13

• Something to make you laugh, and then make you think…
– (Ig Nobel Prize winner 2012).

http://blogs.scienLficamerican.com/scicurious–]brain/2012/09/25/
ignobel–]prize–]in–]neuroscience–]the–]dead–]salmon–]study/

. Lesson: Be careful with fMRI analyses, you can find pretty much anything by chance