ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an orientation to the use of neuroimaging in decision-making research with a focus specifically on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). It introduces some fundamental aspects of fMRI experimental design that may be relevant for a behavioral researcher interested in the technique. The chapter provides some of the key brain regions that have been commonly implicated in decision making and discuss their specific roles. The human brain sits at the center of all decision making: inputs from the environment are perceived and evaluated, options are weighed, and action is chosen. Decision neuroscience is a relatively young field, but it is rapidly growing. Up to the end of the year 2000, only 16 articles had been published using neuroscience to understand decision making. A common criticism of decision neuroscience often pertains to the incremental value that neuroscience data can provide regarding decision processes and beyond behavioral experiments.