Integrating economic models and cognitive neuroscience: the neurobiology of human decision-making. (360G-Wellcome-082674_Z_07_Z)

Economic utility theory assumes that people have a stable representation of their own utility leading them to act in order to maximize a return based upon an application of algorithmic rules [1, 2]. My research proposal challenges this view. I propose to test the hypothesis that the neural representation of utility is a dynamic process shaped by emotion, cognitive limitation and contextual information. Little is known how these processes are integrated in the brain and how they affect the con struction of the preference. I will test the hypothesis that the neural representation of utility is not absolute but relative to a reference point that changes according the subject s perception of the available options. For example I will show how the perception of the reference point is influenced by the subject s position in the economic transaction, by his/her emotional states, past memories and future expectations. The final goal of this project is to use this empirical information to re fine and constrain the current utility theory.