Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: At 3:27 PM on January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley Sullenberger faced a critical decision. Three minutes into its ascent from New York’s LaGuardia Airport, US Airways Flight 1549 had struck a flock of geese, resulting in an immediate and complete loss of thrust from both engines. Losing altitude quickly, Captain Sullenberger was confronted with two unnerving options: risk further flight over dense urban ground to a nearby airfield in New Jersey, or attempt an unpowered ditching into the waters of the Hudson River below. He had available multiple sources of information—sensor readings, air traffic control transmissions, his own considerable experience—but precious little time. How our brains quickly transform such diverse information into a single choice is the focus of considerable study in neuroscience. In PNAS, Towal et al. (1) reveal the dynamic process by which human choosers combine two possible sources of information, visual salience and goal valuation, during the decision process.
Author: Kenway Louie
Institution: New York University
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2105300312