The role of the frontal cortex in selecting strategic actions

我的研究调查了大脑是如何做出决定的。对这一问题的大多数研究都考察了大脑在选择动作时的过程，这些动作是由感觉线索引导的，比如在红绿灯导航时。绿色的意思是出发。红色代表停止。然而，我们日常生活中的许多决定并不是那么简单，因为没有一种选择是唯一“正确”的。在竞争局势中尤其如此，在这种情况下，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。常见的例子包括标签游戏，曲棍球的点球，在扑克下注，以及投资股票市场。我开创了一种研究战略决策背后的大脑过程的方法，其中包括应用神经科学实验室经济学家开发的任务。当受试者在“石头-剪刀-布-石头”这样的战略游戏中竞争时，我们既测量并改变大脑活动。如果大脑区域内的活动预示着即将到来的选择(即“读心术”)，这就提供了相关证据，表明它参与了战略决策。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(即“精神控制”)来改变，这就提供了它参与战略决策的因果证据。使用这两种技术，我们目前正在研究大脑的哪些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变得协调的。了解参与选择战略行动的大脑机制，有助于解释为什么根据当前的经济模型，人们往往表现出“非理性”的行为。神经经济学模型反过来可能带来更现实的政策，用于监管金融市场、保险市场和彩票等机构，仅举几例。

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.