The role of the frontal cortex in selecting strategic actions

我的研究是研究大脑是如何做出决定的。大多数关于这个问题的研究都考察了大脑在受感官提示（比如在红绿灯前导航）引导下选择行动的过程。绿色代表出发。红色表示停止。然而，我们日常生活中的许多决定并不那么简单，因为没有一个选择是唯一“正确”的。在竞争情况下尤其如此，因为我们行动的结果不仅取决于我们自己的选择，也取决于对手的选择。常见的例子包括捉人游戏、曲棍球比赛中的罚球、扑克比赛中的下注和股票市场投资。我开创了一种研究战略决策背后的大脑过程的方法，该方法涉及应用神经科学实验室中经济学家开发的任务。当研究对象在“石头剪刀布”等战略游戏中竞争时，我们会测量并改变他们的大脑活动。如果大脑某一区域的活动预测了即将到来的选择（即“读心术”），这就提供了相关证据，表明该区域参与了战略决策。此外，如果即将到来的选择可以通过操纵大脑区域内的活动来改变（即“精神控制”），这就提供了它参与战略决策的因果证据。利用这两种技术，我们目前正在研究哪些大脑区域被激活来控制战略行动。其他实验研究了当涉及多个运动系统（例如，眼手协调）时，参与选择战略行动的多个大脑区域是如何协调的。了解参与选择战略行动的大脑机制可以帮助解释为什么根据当前的经济模型，人们的行为往往显得“非理性”。反过来，神经经济学模型可以为监管金融市场、保险市场和彩票等机构带来更现实的政策。

My research investigates how the brain makes decisions. Most research into this issue examines the brain processes involved in choosing actions that are guided by sensory cues such as when navigating a traffic light. Green means go. Red means stop. Many of our every day decisions, however, are not as straightforward because no option is uniquely 'correct'. This is particularly true in competitive situations in which the outcome of our actions depends not only on our own choice but that of opponents. Common examples include a game of tag, a penalty-shot in hockey, placing a bet in poker, and investing in the stock market. I pioneered an approach to studying the brain processes underlying strategic decisions which involves applying tasks developed by economists in the neuroscience laboratory. We both measure and alter brain activity while subjects compete in strategic games like 'rock-paper-scissors'. If activity within a brain region predicts upcoming choices (i.e., 'mind-reading'), this provides correlational evidence that it is involved in strategic decision-making. Furthermore, if upcoming choices can be altered through manipulation of activity within a brain region (i.e., 'mind-control'), this provides causal evidence that it is involved in strategic decision-making. Using these two techniques we are currently investigating which brain regions become activated to control strategic actions. Other experiments examine how multiple brain regions that are involved in choosing strategic actions become coordinated when multiple motor systems are involved (e.g., eye-hand coordination). Understanding the brain mechanisms involved in choosing strategic actions can help explain why people often appear to behave "irrationally" according to current economic models. Neuroeconomic models could, in turn, lead to more realistic policies for regulating such institutions as financial markets, insurance markets and lotteries to name but a few.