Neuroscience of Decision Making: (Contemporary Topics in Cognitive Neuroscience)

The intersection between the fields of behavioral decision research and neuroscience has proved to be fertile ground for interdisciplinary research. Whereas the former is rich in formalized models of choice, the latter is rife with techniques for testing behavioral models at the brain level. As a result, there has been the rapid emergence of progressively more sophisticated biological models of choice, geared toward the development of ever more complete mechanistic models of behavior. This volume provides a coherent framework for distilling some of the key themes that have emerged as a function of this research program, and highlights what we have learned about judgment and decision making as a result. Although topics that are theoretically relevant to judgment and decision making researchers are addressed, the book also ventures somewhat beyond the traditional boundaries of this area to tackle themes that would of interest to a greater community of scholars. Neuroscience of Decision Making provides contemporary and essential reading for researchers and students of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and economics.

Table of Contents:
O. Vartanian, D.R. Mandel, Introduction. Part 1. Theoretical Models. M. Sigman, S. Dehaene, Why Does it Take Time to Make a Decision? The Role of a Global Workspace in Simple Decision Making. D.R. Mandel, O.Vartanian, Frames, Brains, and Content Domains: Neural and Behavioral Effects of Descriptive Context on Preferential Choice. Part 2. Risk and Uncertainty. A. Bechara, Human Emotions in Decision Making: Are they Useful or Disruptive? A.J. Yu, Uncertainty and Neuromodulation: Focus on Acetylcholine and Sustained Attention. W. De Neys, V. Goel, Heuristics and Biases in the Brain: Dual Neural Pathways for Decision Making. Part 3. Reward and Loss. M.R. Delgado, E. Tricomi, Reward Processing and Decision Making in the Human Striatum. J.P. O’Doherty, Neural Mechanisms Underlying Reward and Punishment Learning in the Human Brain: Insights from fMRI. D.A. Pizzagalli, D.G. Dillon, R. Bogdan, A.J. Holmes, Reward and Punishment Processing in the Human Brain: Clues from Affective Neuroscience and Implications for Depression Research. Part 4. Cooperation and Trust. A.G. Sanfey, J.K. Rilling, Neural Bases of Social Decision Making. D. Houser, R. Kurzban, E. Xiao, Social and Biological Evidence on Motives for Punishment. Part 5. Goal-directed Decision Making. K. Christoff, A. Gordon, R. Smith, The Role of Spontaneous Thought in Human Cognition. J. Moll, J. Grafman, Well, What Do You Want To Do? A Cognitive Neuroscience View of Plan Decision Making. O. Vartanian, Decision Junctures in the Creative Process.