Social  decision making: from neuroscience to culture

Speaker: George Christopoulos         Post: Assistant Professor

Unit: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Participated in: the Department of Psychology all teachers and students

Venue: sun room                       Time: 2016.12.19

Abstract:

Decision-making  is a central function of the human brain and social life overall. Understanding  this complex function necessitates the integration of multiple methods and  approaches, ranging from neuro-computational methods, game theory and lab  experiments to social psychology and culture science. In my  lab, we adopt such an approach allowing us to understand decision making at  multiple levels. Firstly, (i) I will present evidence describing human brain  signals that are sensitive to basic decision making parameters (money and risk).  Subsequently, (ii) additional neuroimaging studies explain how competition and  cooperation are represented in the human brain; how trust is a form of “social  risk”; and how social influence impacts risky decision making.Finally, (iii) I  will present more recent work examining how culture can act as a maternal  attachment figure and how Asian culture affects decision making. I will finish  with a call for the establishment of a multi-disciplinary network of Asian-based  researchers aiming in the improvement of mental health via a better  understanding of the interaction between the built environment, culture and  human neurobiology.