2023/2024
Introduction to Neuroeconomics: How the Brain Makes Decisions
Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Category 'Best Course for New Knowledge and Skills'
Type:
Mago-Lego
Delivered by:
Department of Strategic and International Management
When:
4 module
Open to:
students of all HSE University campuses
Instructors:
Vasily Klucharev
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
42
Course Syllabus
Abstract
Economics, psychology, and neuroscience are converging today into a unified discipline of Neuroeconomics with the ultimate aim of providing a single, general theory of human decision making. Neuroeconomics provides economists and social scientists with a deeper understanding of how they make their own decisions, and how others decide. Are we hard-wired to be risk-averse or risk seeking? How is a “fair decision” evaluated by the brain? Is it possible today to predict the purchasing intentions of a consumer? Can we modulate economic behaviour affecting the brain? Neuroscience allied to psychology and economics have powerful models and evidence to explain why we make a decision. Decision-making in financial markets, trust and cooperation in teams, consumer persuasion, will be central issues in this course in neuroeconomics. You will be provided with the most recent evidence from brain-imaging techniques (PET, fMRI and TMS), and you will be introduced to the explanatory models behind them. 2. Learning Objectives Learning objectives of the “Introduction to Neuroeconomics” class are to provide students with the new multidisciplinary approach to study decision-making. Students will learn: • Assumptions of Neuroeconpomics • Methods of Neuroeconpomics • The functional role of various brain regions in decision-making • Evolutionary approach of Neuroeconoimics • Neuroeconoimics of decisions in groups 3. Learning outcomes After completing the study of the “Introduction to Neuroeconomics” the student should: • Know the brain models of decision making and choice, neuro-cognitive models of the choice: comparison with formal models of decision making • Understand neural representation of the subjective value, basal ganglia and choice value. • Understand the affective mechanisms of decision making • Understand neural mechanisms of decision making under risk • Understand social and evolutionary perspectives in Neuroeconomics 4. Place of the discipline in the university’s program structure The course introduces an interdisciplinary perspective on economic choice behaviour. We are looking for students who want to go the extra mile in understanding decision making from a biological perspective; eager to learn more about how neuroscience can revolutionize economics. All students that are interested in the neurobiological underpinning of choice behaviour and financial decisions are encouraged to participate; there are no requirements of specific background knowledge
Learning Objectives
- Assumptions of Neuroeconomics
- Methods of Neuroeconomics
- The functional role of various brain regions in decision-making
- Evolutionary approach of Neuroeconomics
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Understand neural mechanisms of decision making under risk
- Understand neural representation of the subjective value, basal ganglia and choice value.
- Know the brain models of decision making and choice, neuro-cognitive models of the choice: comparison with formal models of decision making
- Understand the affective mechanisms of decision making
Course Contents
- Lecture 1. Introduction
- Lecture 2. Measuring brain activity
- Lecture 3. Introducing brain models of decision-making and choice
- Lecture 4. Behavioral economics foundation of Neuroeconomics
- Lecture 5. Neural representation of the subjective value, basal ganglia and choice value
- Lecture 6. Neuromarketing
- Lecture 7. Decision making under risk
- Lecture 8. Foraging theory
- Lecture 9. Taking an evolutionary perspective
- Lecture 10. Dual process theory of decision-making
- Lecture 11. The social brain: Games in the brain
- Lecture 12. Neurophilosophy
Assessment Elements
- Group TaskYou will be divided into groups of 4-5, within which you will prepare a presentation of about 125 minutes. Goal of the presentation is to provide a critique of a Neuroeconomics paper. To this end, you need to understand the research question and methods in detail and explain this to your fellow students. At the beginning of your talk, it is important that you explain why you think that the paper is important. In the main part, you will then continue describing the hypotheses and explain and evaluate the methods used by the authors to test their hypotheses. Finally, outline the results and explain what they mean. At the end, we will have a discussion based on the questions your fellow students had about the paper. Please include a note on authorship in your first slide and upload after your presentation.
- Final examWritten exam
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Neuroeconomics : decision making and the brain, , 2014
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Plassmann, H., O’Doherty, J., Shiv, B., & Rangel, A. (2008). Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0706929105