Unit on Computational Decision Neuroscience

National Institute Of Mental Health

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

In the last fiscal year, the Unit on Computational Decision Neuroscience was established and joined the Emotion and Development Branch. We have furnished our laboratory with eye-tracking, physiological acquisition, and thermal stimulation equipment that will be used for in-person studies in our behavioral testing rooms. We have welcomed three post-baccalaureate fellows and one medical student, and one postdoctoral fellow will soon be joining the lab. We are launching two protocols: The first one (NIH IRB #000944) will be conducted entirely online and will focus on the relationship between value-based decision-making, perceptual decision-making, and metacognition. Once the collection of this large dataset of behavioral observations in these three domains is complete, we will apply computational models to derive specific parameters for valuation and for confidence (metacognition). We will test hypotheses related to the effects of reward and uncertainty on confidence metrics. These results will be important to our future studies attempting to combine economic decision-making and metacognition in psychopathology. The second protocol (NIH IRB #000978) is a large study to be conducted in the clinic (laboratory), aimed at understanding how stress, pain, and emotion induce acute (momentary) changes in decision-making (valuation) and metacognition (confidence). Participants will complete decision-making and metacognition tasks in the fMRI scanner to explore how brain activity in prefrontal cortex and other cortical and subcortical areas such as the insula, amygdala, basal ganglia is modified by negative states during decision-making. In collaboration with Dr. Janes at NIDA, we are launching a neuroimaging study that will allow us to understand the effects of nicotine on value-based decision-making and metacognition.