Lecture 15 - Decision Neuroscience Flashcards
What are the three predictions of utility theory?
People always seek to maximise utility. People seek options with the greatest utility. All that matters are the utility calculations.
What are the assumptions and problems of utility theory?
People have unlimited knowledge, time, and information-processing power. This is not the case … Heuristics.
What brain area plays a role in integrating confidence violations into decision-making?
Right inferior frontal gyrus
What does the IOWA Gambling Task show?
Even before developing a hunch, anticipatory skin conductance response (i.e. emotional reaction) tells us the cards are bad
What is the somatic marker hypothesis?
We have a system (emotional) that guides our decisions even before we have awareness of the situation
What is the evidence for the somatic marker hypothesis from lesion patients?
Patients with lesions in certain brain areas lack the somatic marker advantage
Which brain region encodes the emotional reaction to bad stimuli? (i.e. losses)
Amygdala
Which brain region encodes the emotional reaction to good stimuli? (i.e. rewards)
Striatum
Which brain region recalls the emotional reaction and uses it to guide behaviour?
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)
Which brain areas respond to immediate rewards?
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and striatum
Which brain area responds to all of the options, and is not related to the immediacy of the rewards?
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) (higher cognitive function)
In food preference studies, those who are classified as greater self-controllers exhibit higher activation in which brain area?
dlPFC
dlPFC down-regulates the value signal in which brain region?
vmPFC
Which brain regions does cooperation activate?
Areas associated with reward - striatum and orbitofrontal cortex
Which brain regions does altruistic behaviour activate?
Areas associated with reward - striatum and anterior cingulate cortex
