Title: The Neuroscience of Decision-Making: Role of Emotions, Biases, and Neurological

Factors

Introduction:

 Introduce decision-making as a fundamental cognitive process.

 Highlight the complexity and interdisciplinary nature of studying decision-making.

1. Basics of Decision-Making:

 Neurological Basis:
o Overview of brain regions involved (prefrontal cortex, amygdala, striatum).
o Role of neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin) in decision processes.
 Decision-Making Models:
o Rational decision-making (expected utility theory).
o Behavioral economics and deviations from rationality (prospect theory).

2. Influence of Emotions on Decision-Making:

 Emotion and the Brain:

o Amygdala's role in processing emotional responses.
o Impact of emotional arousal on decision outcomes (risk-taking vs. risk-aversion).
 Emotional Biases:
o Confirmation bias, loss aversion, and framing effects.
o Examples from psychology and economics (Tversky and Kahneman's work).

3. Cognitive Biases and Decision-Making:

 Types of Cognitive Biases:

o Anchoring bias, availability heuristic, and overconfidence bias.
o How biases affect judgment and decision outcomes.
 Neurological Underpinnings of Biases:
o Cognitive control mechanisms and their role in mitigating biases.
o Neural correlates of biased decision-making (e.g., prefrontal cortex dysfunction).

4. Neurological Factors Influencing Choices:

 Neurological Disorders and Decision-Making:

o Case studies (e.g., patients with frontal lobe lesions, addiction disorders).
o Insights into impaired decision-making processes.
 Developmental Perspectives:
o How decision-making abilities evolve across lifespan (adolescence vs. adulthood).
o Impact of aging and neurodegenerative diseases on decision processes.

5. Practical Implications and Applications:

  Decision-Making in Real-world Contexts:
o Business decisions, financial investments, and consumer behavior.
o Policy-making and implications for public health interventions.

Conclusion:

 Summarize key insights into the neuroscience of decision-making.

 Discuss implications for understanding human behavior and improving decision
outcomes.
 Highlight future research directions in neuroeconomics and decision neuroscience.

Q&A Session: