Neural Basis of Motivational and Cognitive Control

This volume offers a range of perspectives on a simple problem: How does the brainchoose efficiently and adaptively among options to ensure coherent, goal-directed behavior? Thecontributors, from fields as varied as anatomy, psychology, learning theory, neuroimaging,neurophysiology, behavioral economics, and computational modeling, present an overview of keyapproaches in the study of cognitive control and decision making. The book not only presents asurvey of cutting-edge research on the topic, it also provides a handbook useful to psychologists,biologists, economists, and neuroscientists alike. The contributors consider such topics as theanatomical and physiological basis of control, examining core components of the control system,including contributions of the cerebral cortex, the ways in which subcortical brain regions underpinthe control functions of the cortex, and neurotransmitter systems; variations in control seen in thedevelopment from adolescence to adulthood, in healthy adults, and in patient populations; recentdevelopments in computational approaches, including reinforcement learning; and overarching trendsin the current literature, including neuroeconomics, social decision making, and model-basedapproaches to data from neuroimaging and electrophysiology.

Rogier B. Mars and Jerome Sallet are Research Fellows in the Department of Experimental Psychology and the Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain at Oxford University, where Matthew F. S. Rushworth is Professor, and Nick Yeung is University Lecturer.