Successful decision-making in a complex and ever-changing world involves multiple steps; First, identifying decision-relevant information: Second, identifying possibly sensible actions; and Third, deciding on an action that is most reasonable under the current circumstances. To achieve this, our brain needs to select decision-relevant sensory signals, and link the relevant sensory evidence to the action planning process. With funding from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Jochen Ditterich and his research team, are carrying out research on how our brains are able to make decisions on the basis of sensory information. His research is investigating the neural mechanisms that provide the necessary flexibility to deal with a changing environment. In his research, participants carry out a perceptual decision task that requires them to separate decision-relevant from irrelevant information and to switch stimulus-response associations. The investigators are analyzing human decision behavior and are using computational modeling to reveal the properties of the mechanisms that allow our brain to make flexible decisions. In addition, recordings of neural activity from animals performing the same decision task are providing insight into the neural mechanisms that can separate decision-relevant from irrelevant information, and that can switch stimulus-response associations based on the current task demands.

It is a hallmark of our cognitive abilities that our brain can easily adjust to very different situations in which we might find ourselves. From a mechanistic point of view, decision-making in complex and changing situations means that our brain must be able to change quickly how information flows between its different parts. While theories have been proposed how the brain might be able to achieve this, the actual neural mechanisms are surprisingly poorly understood. This study is expected to provide a major advance in our understanding of the necessary brain mechanisms, as well as their limits. Such knowledge will be a prerequisite for developing strategies to improve decision-making in complex situations and for understanding failures of these neural mechanisms in mental disorders, for example, in the case of schizophrenia.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
Application #
1156601
Program Officer
alumit ishai
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2012-05-01
Budget End
2015-04-30
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$630,904
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Davis
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Davis
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
95618