| I am interested in the neurophysiological mechanisms that underlie decision-making and self-control, two essential functions of higher executive processes. To this end, in my lab we record the activity of single neurons in awake animals that are engaged in decision-making. This allows us to identify the types of signals that neurons in specific parts of the brain represent and the computations they carry out. I will also study human subjects in the same tasks with the help of fMRI. These parallel experiments will provide comparative information about decision processes in human and non-human primates. The results of one set of experiments will guide the design and the interpretation of results in the other set of experiments. This parallel approach will combining the strength of these two very different techniques. |
