Decision Neuroscience: An Integrative Perspective

Decision Neuroscience addresses fundamental questions about how the brain makes perceptual, value-based, and more complex decisions in non-social and social contexts. This book presents compelling neuroimaging, electrophysiological, lesional, and neurocomputational models in combination with hormonal and genetic approaches, which have led to a clearer understanding of the neural mechanisms behind how the brain makes decisions. The five parts of the book address distinct but inter-related topics and are designed to serve both as classroom introductions to major subareas in decision neuroscience and as advanced syntheses of all that has been accomplished in the last decade.

Part I is devoted to anatomical, neurophysiological, pharmacological, and optogenetics animal studies on reinforcement-guided decision making, such as the representation of instructions, expectations, and outcomes; the updating of action values; and the evaluation process guiding choices between prospective rewards. Part II covers the topic of the neural representations of motivation, perceptual decision making, and value-based decision making in humans, combining neurcomputational models and brain imaging studies. Part III focuses on the rapidly developing field of social decision neuroscience, integrating recent mechanistic understanding of social decisions in both non-human primates and humans. Part IV covers clinical aspects involving disorders of decision making that link together basic research areas including systems, cognitive, and clinical neuroscience; this part examines dysfunctions of decision making in neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, behavioral addictions, and focal brain lesions. Part V focuses on the roles of various hormones (cortisol, oxytocin, ghrelin/leptine) and genes that underlie inter-individual differences observed with stress, food choices, and social decision-making processes. The volume is essential reading for anyone interested in decision making neuroscience.

With contributions that are forward-looking assessments of the current and future issues faced by researchers, Decision Neuroscience is essential reading for anyone interested in decision-making neuroscience.

• Provides comprehensive coverage of approaches to studying individual and social decision neuroscience, including primate neurophysiology, brain imaging in healthy humans and in various disorders, and genetic and hormonal influences on decision making
• Covers multiple levels of analysis, from molecular mechanisms to neural-systems dynamics and computational models of how we make choices
• Discusses clinical implications of process dysfunctions, including schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, eating disorders, drug addiction, and pathological gambling
• Features chapters from top international researchers in the field and full-color presentation throughout with numerous illustrations to highlight key concepts

Dr Jean-Claude Dreher (research director, CNRS, http://dreherteam.cnc.isc.cnrs.fr/en/). Dr Dreher is the director of the Neuroeconomics, Reward and Decision making team at the 'Centre de Neurosciences Cognitives' (Lyon, France). He studied Mathematics, psychopathology and Cognitive Neuroscience in Paris. The general approach of his research group is to characterize the brain mechanisms underlying motivation and decision making in healthy subjects and to study neurological and psychiatric disorders in which these mechanisms are dysfunctional. He received two Fellow Awards for Research Excellence at the NIH. He is the author of around 40 research papers and the editor of the 'Handbook of Reward and Decision Making' (Academic PRess, Elsevier, 2009). His research has been highlighted in major scientific journals (Nature Reviews Neuroscience, PNAS, TiCS) and featured in a international media (newspapers, radio and TV programs).

Léon Tremblay spends much of his time researching Neuroscience, Basal ganglia, Premovement neuronal activity, Striatum and Orbitofrontal cortex. His works in Primate and Prefrontal cortex are all subjects of inquiry into Neuroscience. His Basal ganglia research incorporates themes from Caudate nucleus, Dopamine and Putamen.

His study in Striatum is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing from both Dentate nucleus, Cerebrum and Reward system. Brain stimulation reward and Curiosity is closely connected to Cognitive psychology in his research, which is encompassed under the umbrella topic of Orbitofrontal cortex. His work investigates the relationship between Globus pallidus and topics such as MPTP that intersect with problems in Parkinsonism and Neurotoxin.

His most cited work include:

• Relative reward preference in primate orbitofrontal cortex (1126 citations)
• Reward Processing in Primate Orbitofrontal Cortex and Basal Ganglia (792 citations)
• The cerebellum communicates with the basal ganglia. (569 citations)