Working memory mechanisms in human decision making

当做出明确的决定时，我们会将有关刺激的瞬间信息与活跃的记忆痕迹进行比较。然而，工作记忆和决策背后的神经认知机制传统上是分开研究的。在这里，我提出了一些实验，旨在系统地探索人类工作记忆在将多个信息整合到一个决策中的作用。在这里，我将同时关注具体的知觉刺激属性和数字符号形式的抽象大小信息。计算模型将与脑磁图和瞳孔测量措施相结合，以表征记忆和决策处理之间在行为和神经层面上的相互作用。将特别注重工作记忆过程以瞬时预测和期望的形式参与维持和更新决策背景，以此作为在动态、非静态环境中有效决策的基础。

When making categorical decisions, we compare momentary information about a stimulus with an active memory trace. The neurocognitive mechanisms underlying working memory and decision-making, however, have traditionally been studied separately. Here, I propose experiments designed to systematically explore the role of human working memory in integrating multiple pieces of information into a decision. Therein I will focus both on concrete perceptual stimulus attributes and on abstract magnitude information in form of number symbols. Computational modelling will be combined with magnetoencephalographic and pupillometric measures, to characterize the interplay between mnemonic and decisional processing at the behavioural and neural levels. A particular focus will be on the involvement of working memory processes in the maintenance and updating of decisional context, in form of momentary predictions and expectations, as a basis for efficient decision-making in our dynamic, non-stationary environment.