what are the 2 goals of cognitive neurosciences
- determine how the brain mediates cognition and behaviour
2. relate neural structures to mental functions and behavioural acts
what are 3 challenges to converging methods
- brain is massive complexity - 100 billion neurons, 100 trillion synapses
- mind - not directly observable
- behaviour- noisy, inconsistent, individualized and diverse!
what is DTI?
diffusion tensor imaging: measuring fiber tracts between brain areas
what is PET?
positron emission tomography: using radiotracers to track dopamine distribution in the brain
- see different NT separately
measuring the effects of L dopa on reinforcement learning in an example of what method of cognitive neuroscience?
pharmacological intervention
true or false, genetics is also ia type of cognitive neuroscience method
true
what is MEG
magnetoencephalography : imaging magnetic fields due to neural activity
what is fNIRS
functional near-infrared spectroscopy: imaging hemodynamic response non invasively ( measure how light bounces of different areas of the brain)
what is the brain bow?
imaging of individual neurons using genetic manipulation and flourescent proteins
what is optogenetics?
genetic manipulation to allow use of light to switch neurons on and off
selection of a belief or action (choice) among alternative possibilities (options)
decision
decisions require the integration and evaluation of multiple factors: what are some external factors (6)
commodity, quantity, delay, risk , ambiguity, cost
decisions require the integration and evaluation of multiple factors: what are some internal factors (4)
motivation, patience, risk attitude, ambiguity attitude
options are probabilistic but all information(value and probability) is known
decision making under risk
options are probabilistic and either values or probabilities of option are unknown
(could take the one you know or the one you don’t)
decision making under ambiguity
one or more options is unknown (chose between something or possibly nothing)
decision making under ignorance
we tend to chose _____ over ambiguity
risk, (ambiguity aversion)
normative / prescriptive model of decision making
described how ppl should decide in order to maximize wealth
descriptive model of choice, describes how people do decide, grounded in observed behaviour
prospect theory
3 key features of prospect theory
- objective values are transformed into subjective values
- objective probabilities are transformed into subjective decision weights
- options are evaluated based on a common reference point
what brain regions are involved in risky decisions or if loss is involved
insular cortex and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex
what brain regions are involved when outcomes are better than expected
ventral striatum and medial prefrontal cortex
what brain area is involved in executive control
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex
what are the 3 conclusions of converging methods and decision method study by Hsu et al?
- behavioural responses show decision weighting in choice behaviour
- computational modeling accounts for decision weighting as a mental construct
- fMRI activations demonstrate representation of decision weighting in neural activity
