June 17, 2010 | Frijda lecture
Thursday, June 17, 2010 | 20.00 - 21.00 hrs
Tinbergenzaal (KNAW), Kloveniersburgwal 29, Amsterdam
Neurobiological foundations of human motivation
Prof. dr. Ernst FehrProfessor Microeconomics and Experimental Economic Research, University of Zürich
In recent years, there has been rapid progress in our understanding of how the brain encodes economic values in asocial choices. Evidence from non-human primates as well as neuroimaging studies in humans indicate that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) encodes economic value. This raises the question whether VMPFC also encodes values related to social goals. In my lecture I review recent neuroimaging studies indicating that VMPFC also correlates with social values and that these values are modulated by inputs from other regions depending on the concrete context involved. Finally, I will show new evidence indicating that VMPFC activation is even causally involved in generating choices that deviate from economic self-interest. These insights provide components for a mechanistic neural model of social preferences that might provide the basis for predicting non-selfish choices.
If you wish to attend this lecture, please send an e-mail to Neeltje Peters-van Gemert.