Making Economic Choices: How Our Brain Decides

Topic: 
Making Economic Choices: How Our Brain Decides
Date & Time: 
Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - 16:45 to 17:45
Speaker: 
Xinying Cai, Assistant Professor of Neural and Cognitive Sciences
Location: 
Room 210, NYU Shanghai | 1555 Century Avenue, Pudong New Area, Shanghai

Abstract:
Assuming you prefer the flavor of strawberry to vallina, if offered one scoop of strawberry versus two scoops of vallina ice cream, which one would you pick? A predominant idea is that in such situation we integrate across multiple attributes (flavor and quantity of each ice cream) then choose the option with the highest value on the integrated scale. To economists, rational choosers (being consistent in their choices) behave as if they choose the good with the highest utility (subjective value). A fundamental question for neuroscientists is whether neural activity could be mapped onto various aspects of such choice process. Taking this question as a starting point, we indeed discovered value-like signals in many brain regions. We further demonstrated that such value signals and the corresponding brain regions may serve different functions during economic choice. These findings have significant implications in areas such as psychiatry, which I will touch upon briefly.

NYU Shanghai STEM seminar series is a weekly seminar series on every Wednesday, starting from 12th October 2016. 
Please see below tentative schedule of STEM seminar series in 2017 Spring Semester.

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Location & Details: 

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