CODIR · Cortical Dynamics of Decision Irrationality
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-04-01 → 2018-05-29
- EU contribution
- €171,461
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Cortical Dynamics of Decision Irrationality
The main goal of this research project was to provide novel insights on the cognitive and neural mechanisms via which humans violate the principles of rationality when making simple decisions. Rational theories of choice prescribe that the subjective value ascribed to an alternative is solely a function of the goals of the decision-maker and the objective properties of the alternative at hand. However, it has been shown time and again that the subjective value of an alternative is also largely influenced by the properties of the other alternatives that are under offer (i.e. context-sensitive valuation). Yet, very little is known about the mechanistic and neural basis of context-sensitive valuation in humans. Understanding why humans make irrational decisions can lead to an enriched mechanistic theory of choice, revising thus the descriptively inadequate standard microeconomic model that has dominated the social sciences for decades. Additionally, a mechanistic theory of choice can generate novel predictions about choice behaviour in the healthy brain as well as in neuropsychiatric diseases. Being able to link specific neuropsychiatric disturbances (e.g. at the level of neurotransmitters) to concrete behavioural signatures can have clinically diagnostic value. In this project, we used a simple psychophysical task in which participants view 2 rapid streams of numerical values and at the end of the trial have to decide which stream had the highest average value. In previous work, the researcher has shown that decisions in this simple task are subject to irrational context-sensitivities. These context-sensitivities have been previously ascribed to an attentional selection mechanism, which prioritises the processing of momentarily higher values. This project aimed to extend these findings via the following objectives: a) Identify the cortical dynamics of attentional selection (that mediates irrational context-sensitivities) using magnetoencephalography (MEG). b) Alter the cortical mechanisms of attentional selection by pharmacologically increasing GABA-mediated cortical inhibition. c) Synthesize the findings in a) and b) into a novel biophysical model of attention and decision-making.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Imagine that you choose a large house with a long commute over a small flat with a short train ride. Will the appearance of an inferior, thus irrelevant, alternative–a small flat with a longer train ride–make you revise your initial choice? Contrary to what theories in economics prescribe people typically reverse their original choice in the presence of an inferior option. Contextual preference reversals (CPRs) of this form are hallmarks of human irrationality. Such deviations from rationality have been described in numerous behavioural studies over the past decades. But what are the mechanisms that produce CPRs? And why do CPRs differ across individuals? I aim to answer these big open questions. Specifically, I plan to elucidate the brain mechanisms that mediate CPRs, from the level of neurotransmitters, to large-scale brain networks, to behaviour. To this end, I will combine, for the first time, three novel approaches: a model-based approach I developed for quantifying irrational decision-making in a physiologically tractable fashion; delineating the neural interactions underlying decisions with magnetoenecephalography (MEG); and pharmacological manipulation of these interactions. I will then use the MEG data to guide the development of a biophysically constrained mechanistic model of irrational decision-making. This model will be used to generate novel predictions about CPRs in the healthy brain as well as in several neurophysiological disorders. In sum, my research will tackle long-standing problems from the behavioural sciences with techniques from the life sciences, thus providing a deeper understanding of the limits of human behaviour. I will be thoroughly trained in advanced neurophysiological techniques in preparation for a career in the nascent field of “computational psychiatry”. Finally, this project will bring together leading scientists from the behavioural, neural, and physical sciences, establishing a new multi-disciplinary EU research network.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITAETSKLINIKUM HAMBURG-EPPENDORF · HamburgCoordinatorGermany
- UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM · AmsterdamNetherlands
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union