Neural mechanisms of reward processing and cognitive control

成年人通常不会在晚饭前吃零食，但他们有时也会屈服于诱惑。这种即时满足与延迟满足之间的决定涉及认知控制（人们如何根据高级目标和意图调节自己的注意力、思想和行动）和强化学习（如何通过过去收到的奖励和惩罚来做出决定）的神经认知机制。我的研究表明，认知控制的奖励信号可以在人们的“事件相关脑电位”或erp中看到，也被称为“脑电波”。因此，我使用erp，结合功能性磁共振成像和计算模型，来阐明复杂决策背后的大脑机制，以及当这些机制受损时所导致的问题，例如在注意缺陷多动障碍和成瘾中发生的问题。

Adults often refrain from snacking before dinner but they sometimes succumb to temptation. Such decisions between immediate vs. delayed gratification recruit neurocognitve mechanisms for cognitive control (how people regulate their attention, thoughts, and actions in accord with high-level goals and intentions) and reinforcement learning (how decisions are informed by rewards and punishments received in the past). My research indicates that reward signals for cognitive control can be seen in people's "event-related brain potentials" or ERPs, otherwise known as "brainwaves." Accordingly, I use ERPs, in combination with functional magnetic resonance imaging and computational modelling, to elucidate the brain mechanisms underlying complex decision making and the problems that result when these mechanisms are impaired, such as occurs in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and addiction.