How Emotions Influence Decision-making: an Interdisciplinary perspective – HEIDI

To meet these objectives, we combined four complementary approaches:
1) Computational modeling using concepts from neuroeconomics, which is important to specify the relationships between the neural mechanisms, behavior and the patterns of brain activation observed with model-based neuroimaging;
2) Human intra-cranial recordings and fMRI, which is key for a comprehensive understanding of different descriptions levels (local field potentials and BOLD signal);
3) Investigation of the interactions between emotions and decision making using a computational model-based fMRI approach;
4) Behavioral economics, field and laboratory experiments, some of them including electrophysiological measures to measure emotions, involving adults and children.

We have characterized how: 1) different rewards and punishments in both domains of risk and uncertainty influence brain activity and decisions; 2) the functional organization of the prefrontal cortex in humans affects individual decision making; 3) hormones and genetics influence how behavior reacts to the reward system and the neurobiology of diseases; 4) choices made by groups and by individuals differ in terms of patterns and brain activity and self-image concerns affect both prosocial and amoral decisions and brain activity. This combination of approaches involving economics and neurosciences contributes to a fundamental understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the influences of emotions on decision making, contributing to explain deviations of decisions from equilibrium predictions in economic models. An additional potential impact of this research is to establish a neurobiological foundation for understanding disorders affecting motivational and decision making processes.

Taken together, this research grant first demonstrates progress in knowledge in the following domains in neurosciences: the functional organization of the prefrontal cortex, the fundamental neural mechanisms involved in reward processing and decision making in neuropathological mechanisms underlying dysfunctions of these two systems. In particular, we have provided new evidence identifying the neural substrates of different value-related signals, uncertainty signals and the subjective value of different options. A better knowledge of the neural basis of these value-signals is likely to advance our understanding of the impact that different types of neuropathologies have on reward and decision making. Moreover, we demonstrated brain influence of genes and gonadal steroid hormones that affect dopaminergic transmission, which clarifies the biological mechanisms underlying inter-individual differences and vulnerability to pathology related to the dysfunction of the reward system.
Simultaneously, we have made contributions in the behavioral economic analysis of individual decision-making and social preferences, by showing the importance of taking into account emotions to better understand the dynamic construction of social ties, the evolving interactions between ethical norms and social preferences, or the importance of image concerns. Humans value not only extrinsic rewards, such as money, but also their own morality and their self- and social image. This is a process that starts in childhood and develops in adulthood. We have shown in particular that, consistent with models integrating self-image and compliance with moral values, people were ready to bend their moral value to earn more money when not observed by others, likely reflecting internalization of social norms. The extensions consists in studying the role of emotions in ecision-making related to unethical behavior in particular.

The HEIDI program has delivered 23 publications in journals and 59 contributions to conferences. Our results provide an integrative account of motivational and decisional processes, combining behavioral economics, computational modeling, human intra-cranial recordings and functional MRI to study their effects on reward and decision making-related brain activity. We have characterized: 1) basic processing of unpredictable positive/negative emotions induced by rewards and punishments, and their roles in learning, individual decision-making and social decision making; 2) influences of emotions on cognitive control; 3) social aspects of the relationships between emotions and cognition.

The neural mechanisms underlying the influences of emotions and motivation on decision making remain poorly understood. New bridges have recently been made between monkey neurophysiology, human neuroimaging, behavior and theoretical models that provide a formal and quantitative account of emotions and decision-making. Yet, there is a need for building an integrative account of emotional and decisional processes, bridging the gap between fundamental computational principles and the brain system level. The current project seeks a better understanding of the psychological and neurobiological basis of the influences of emotions on decision-making to determine the validity of current models of economic choice behavior. It adopts a combination of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspective, combining psychophysics, neuroeconomics, cognitive neuroscience, neurology and multimodal neuroimaging (intracranial recordings in humans and model-based fMRI) to investigate the neural mechanisms of the interactions between emotions and decision making processes, both in single individuals and in social context. This project also seeks to provide a framework that brings together computational and neurobiological findings by highlighting the connections between neuroscience, psychology and economics. Ultimately, the goal is to integrate computational principles underlying choice behavior with those defining brain functions. Such integration will be necessary if we are to ultimately model how emotions influence decision making in health and disease.
The specific aims of this project are to characterize: 1) basic neural coding of positive and negative emotions induced by different rewards and punishments and how they are influenced by probability and uncertainty; 2) the influences of positive/negative emotions induced by rewards/punishment on learning to associate neutral cues with rewarding/aversive outcomes; 3) the neural computations underlying cognitive regulation during value-based decision making; 4) the neural mechanisms by which emotion and cognitive control interact. We will investigate the temporal dynamics of the influence of negative emotions on cognitive control to understand how negative emotions reduce cognitive flexibility; 5) the relationship between emotions and cognition by focusing on the role of self-image in prosocial decision-making; 6) differences between choices made by groups and by individuals in isolation, focusing on the specific roles of emotions such as envy, compassion and the motivation to avoid guilt and blame when making decisions that affect others’ welfare and the social pressure to conform to certain norms when one is in a group setting.
To address these questions, we will combine four complementary approaches:
1) computational modeling using concepts from neuroeconomics, which is important to specify the relationships between the neural mechanisms, behaviour and the patterns of brain activation observed with model-based neuroimaging;
2) human intra-cranial recordings and fMRI, which is key for a comprehensive understanding of different descriptions levels (local field potentials and BOLD signal);
3) investigation of the interactions between emotions and decision making using a computational model-based fMRI approach;
4) behavioral economics laboratory experiments, some of them including physiological measures (SCR).
This combination of approaches will contribute to a fundamental understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the influences of emotions on decision making in humans. The ground-breaking nature and potential impact of this research is to establish a neurobiological foundation for understanding disorders affecting motivational and decision making processes and for better understanding how the influences of emotions may explain deviations in actual decision-making from equilibrium predictions in economic models.