Work

Neuroethology of reward and decision making

Year: 2008

Type: article

Abstract: Ethology, the evolutionary science of behaviour, assumes that natural selection shapes behaviour and its neural substrates in humans and other animals. In this view, the nervous system of any animal comprises a suite of morphological and behavioural adaptations for solving specific information processing problems posed by the physical or social environment. Since the allocation of behaviour often reflects economic optimization of evolutionary fitness subject to physical and cognitive constraints, neurobiological studies of reward, punishment, motivation and decision making will profit from an appreciation of the information processing problems confronted by animals in their natural physical and social environments.

Source: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0159

Authors: Karli K Watson, Michael L Platt

Institution: Duke University

Language: English

Topic: Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Autism Speaks

Award: G6708641071