The role of the frontal cortex in selecting strategic actions

我的研究是关于大脑如何做决定的。对这个问题的大多数研究都是考察大脑在选择行为时的过程，这些行为是由感官线索引导的，比如在交通灯上导航。绿色表示开始。红色意味着停止。然而，我们每天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。在竞争的情况下尤其如此，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，曲棍球点球，扑克下注和投资股票市场。我开创了一种研究战略决策背后的大脑过程的方法，包括应用经济学家在神经科学实验室开发的任务。当受试者在玩“石头剪刀布”这样的策略游戏时，我们都会测量和改变他们的大脑活动。如果大脑区域内的活动预测即将到来的选择（即，“读心术”），这提供了相关的证据，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来改变（即，“精神控制”），这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时，参与选择战略行动的多个大脑区域如何协调（例如，手眼协调）。理解参与选择战略行动的大脑机制有助于解释为什么人们经常表现出“非理性”根据当前的经济模型。反过来，神经经济学模型可以导致更现实的政策来监管金融市场、保险市场和彩票等机构。

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.