Neural mechanisms of reward processing and cognitive control

成年人通常在晚餐前不吃零食，但有时也会屈服于诱惑。这种在即时满足和延迟满足之间做出的决定，需要神经认知机制来进行认知控制（人们如何雅阁高层次的目标和意图来调节自己的注意力、思想和行动）和强化学习（如何根据过去的奖励和惩罚来做出决定）。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“脑波”。“因此，我使用ERPs，结合功能性磁共振成像和计算建模，来阐明复杂决策的大脑机制以及当这些机制受损时导致的问题，例如注意力缺陷多动障碍和成瘾。

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.