A5015080029- Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Neural dynamics and brain function
- Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies
- Mental Health Research Topics
- Action Observation and Synchronization
- Misinformation and Its Impacts
- Embodied and Extended Cognition
- Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Climate Change Communication and Perception
- Computational and Text Analysis Methods
- EEG and Brain-Computer Interfaces
- Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Cognitive Science and Mapping
- Philosophy and History of Science
- Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
University of Toronto
2016-2025
The Scarborough Hospital
2015-2025
Queen's University
2023-2024
University College London
2023-2024
Radboud University Nijmegen
2023-2024
Defence Research and Development Canada
2023
California Institute of Technology
2009-2023
Birkbeck, University of London
2023
Arizona State University
2023
University of Waterloo
2023
The need for social connection is a fundamental human motive, and it increasingly clear that feeling socially connected confers mental physical health benefits. However, in many cultures, societal changes are leading to growing distrust alienation. Can feelings of positivity toward others be increased? Is possible self-generate these feelings? In this study, the authors used brief loving-kindness meditation exercise examine whether could created strangers controlled laboratory context....
Recent research has highlighted the important role of emotion in moral judgment and decision making (Greene, Sommerville, Nystrom, Darley, & Cohen, 2001; Haidt, 2001). What is less clear whether distinctions should be drawn among specific emotions. Although some have argued for differences anger, disgust, contempt (Rozin, Lowery, Imada, 1999), others suggested that these terms may describe a single undifferentiated emotional response to morally offensive behavior (Nabi, 2002). In this...
Empathy is considered a virtue, yet it fails in many situations, leading to basic question: When given choice, do people avoid empathy? And if so, why? Whereas past work has focused on material and emotional costs of empathy, here, we examined whether experience empathy as cognitively taxing costly, them it. We developed the selection task, which uses free choices assess desire empathize. Participants make series binary choices, selecting situations that lead engage or an alternative course...
Self-control is often conceived as a battle between “hot” impulsive processes and “cold” deliberative ones. Heeding the angel on one shoulder leads to success; following demon other failure. feels like duality. What if that sensation misleading, despite how they feel, self-control decisions are just any choice? We argue form of value-based choice wherein options assigned subjective value decision made through dynamic integration process. articulate model can capture its phenomenology account...
We propose that self-control failures, and variation across individuals in abilities, are partly due to differences the speed with which decision-making circuitry processes basic attributes, such as tastiness, versus more abstract healthfulness. tested these hypotheses by combining a dietary-choice task novel form of mouse tracking allowed us pinpoint when different attributes were being integrated into choice process temporal resolution at millisecond level. found that, on average,...
Cognitive regulation is often used to influence behavioral outcomes. However, the computational and neurobiological mechanisms by which it affects behavior remain unknown. We studied this issue using an fMRI task in human participants cognitive upregulate downregulate their cravings for foods at time of choice. found that activity both ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) dorsolateral (dlPFC) correlated with value. also evidence two distinct regulatory were work: value modulation, operates...
Moral judgment often requires making difficult tradeoffs (e.g., is it appropriate to torture save the lives of innocents at risk?). Previous research suggests that both emotional appraisals and more deliberative utilitarian influence such judgments these conflict. However, unclear how different types are represented in brain, or they integrated into an overall moral judgment. We addressed questions using fMRI paradigm which human subjects provide separate for potential actions, then make...
Are some people generally more successful using cognitive regulation or does it depend on the choice domain? Why? We combined behavioral computational modeling and multivariate decoding of fMRI responses to identify neural loci regulation-related shifts in value representations across goals domains (dietary altruistic choice). Surprisingly, regulatory did not alter integrative ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which represented all choice-relevant attributes domains. Instead, dorsolateral...
Making healthy food choices is challenging for many people. Individuals differ greatly in their ability to follow health goals the face of temptation, but it unclear what underlies such differences. Using voxel-based morphometry, we investigated humans (i.e., men and women) links between structural variation gray matter volume individuals9 level success shifting toward healthier choices. We combined MRI choice data into a joint dataset by pooling across three independent studies that used...
Abstract Dual-process models of altruistic choice assume that automatic responses give way to deliberation over time, and are a popular conceptualize how people make generous choices why those might change under time pressure. However, these have led conflicting interpretations behaviour underlying psychological dynamics. Here, we propose flexible, goal-directed deployment attention towards information priorities provides more parsimonious account We demonstrate pressure tends produce early...
Stress is a critical problem facing many healthcare institutions. The consequences of stress include increased provider burnout and decreased quality care for patients. Ironically, key factor that may help buffer the impact on well-being patient health outcomes—compassion—is low in settings declines under stress. This gives rise to an urgent question: what practical steps can be taken increase compassion, thereby benefitting both care? We investigated relative effectiveness short, 10-minute...
Abstract It is increasingly clear that simple decisions are made by computing decision values for the options under consideration, and then comparing these to make a choice. Computational models of this process suggest it involves accumulation information over time, but little known about temporal course valuation in brain. To examine this, we manipulated available time observed consequences brain behavioral correlates Participants were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging...
How do we make choices for others with different preferences from our own? Although neuroimaging studies implicate similar circuits in representing oneself and others, some models propose that additional corrective mechanisms come online when diverge one9s own preferences. Here used event-related potentials (ERPs) humans, combination computational modeling, to examine how social information is integrated the time leading up others. Hungry male female participants unrestricted diets selected...
Decades of research have established the ubiquity and importance choice biases, such as framing effect, yet why these seemingly irrational behaviors occur remains unknown. A prominent dual-system account maintains that alternate framings bias choices because unchecked influence quick, affective processes, findings time pressure increases effect provided compelling support. Here, we present a novel alternative magnified biases under emphasizes shifts in early visual attention strategic...
What role do regions like the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) play in normative behavior (e.g., generosity, healthy eating)? Some models suggest that dlPFC activation during choice reflects controlled inhibition or modulation of default hedonistic preferences. Here, we develop an alternative account, showing evidence accumulation predict trial-by-trial variation response across three fMRI paradigms and two self-control contexts (altruistic sacrifice eating). Using these to simulate a...
While recent research shows how time constraints exacerbate the influence of contextual (dis)incentives on information prioritization and subsequent choice during prosocial decision-making, this emerging perspective is silent pervasive individual differences in dispositional social preferences might interact with these factors to shape processes. To bridge gap, we demonstrated a preregistered study ( N = 200 adults from United States Canada; Prolific Academic) that people calibrate their...
Rodent and human data implicate the hippocampus in arbitration of approach-avoidance conflict (AAC), which arises when an organism is confronted with a stimulus associated simultaneously reward punishment. Yet, precise contributions this structure are underexplored, particularly respect to decision-making processes involved. We assessed humans hippocampal damage matched neurologically healthy controls on computerized AAC paradigm participants first learned whether individual visual images...
Emotion expressions constitute a vital channel for communication, coordination and connection with others, but despite such valuable functions, people sometimes engage in expressive suppression or substitution (expressing emotions they do not genuinely feel). Yet, how exactly decide when what to express? To answer this question, we developed computational model that casts emotion as value-based communicative decisions. Our reveals while indeed tended suppress of anger towards others...