Neuroeconomics: cross-currents in research on decision-making

Trends Cogn Sci. 2006 Mar;10(3):108-16. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2006.01.009. Epub 2006 Feb 8.

Abstract

Despite substantial advances, the question of how we make decisions and judgments continues to pose important challenges for scientific research. Historically, different disciplines have approached this problem using different techniques and assumptions, with few unifying efforts made. However, the field of neuroeconomics has recently emerged as an inter-disciplinary effort to bridge this gap. Research in neuroscience and psychology has begun to investigate neural bases of decision predictability and value, central parameters in the economic theory of expected utility. Economics, in turn, is being increasingly influenced by a multiple-systems approach to decision-making, a perspective strongly rooted in psychology and neuroscience. The integration of these disparate theoretical approaches and methodologies offers exciting potential for the construction of more accurate models of decision-making.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Brain / physiology*
  • Decision Making / physiology*
  • Emotions / physiology
  • Frontal Lobe / physiology
  • Humans
  • Neural Pathways / physiology
  • Reaction Time / physiology*