Current Topics:

Decision making is the process of choosing between two alternatives based on values. Sometimes, people make choices rationally and at other times impulsively. The goal of this class is to learn how people make decisions in every-day life, from food choices to economic decisions. We will explore psychological and economic models of decision-making and will incorporate evidence from neuroscience that supports them. Thus, students will learn the basis of most common brain imaging methods in neuroeconomics. We will look at how every-day decisions are affected by biases, context, emotions, motivation and culture in healthy individuals. Finally, we will explore unhealthy patterns of decisions observed in psychiatric disorders.