Grant: Operating Grant

We make thousands of decisions every day. Scientists have been quite successful in studying the brain processes underlying simple decisions such as navigating a traffic light, in which sensory cues indicate the correct choice. However, in many situations we must decide in the face of uncertain outcomes. For example, we must weigh the risks and rewards with the probability of each outcome when deciding on a proper medical treatment (e.g., chemotherapy treatment or surgical removal of a tumour). My research attempts to uncover how these different factors are represented in the brain and the rules by which they are combined to guide behaviour. One goal is to understand at the biological level the reasons normal individuals make appropriate and inappropriate decisions. Moreover, certain clinical populations such as pathological gamblers, obsessive-compulsives and substance abusers routinely make poor decisions that have more severe effects on their own well-being and on society at large. A second goal is to identify the differences in brain processing that underlie normal and pathological decision-making which is a critical step towards proper diagnosis and therapeutic intervention.