Neural mechanisms of decision making in the ultimatum game in the context of interactions between emotion and reason

Abstract

This thesis aims to understand neural mechanisms of high-level cognitive decision making in the context of complex interactions between emotion and reason. To achieve this goal, I made three major approaches. $\bf{1. Neuroscience}$: Understanding spatiotemporal dynamics of high-level cognitive decision making. $\bf{2. Neuromedicine}$: Understanding functional connectivity in schizophrenia during complex social and emotional decision making $\bf{3. Neuroengineering}$: Development of EEG hyperscanning systemThe purpose of the first approach was to provide answers to the where and when questions of cortical activation with high spatiotemporal resolution using magnetoencephalographies (MEGs) and to investigate effective connectivity between regions of the brain, with the goal of extending our understanding of the information transmission mechanisms that underlie high-level cognitive decision making. This is the first study to investigate spatiotemporal dynamics of high-level cognitive decision making using MEGs. The results presented here suggest that MEG is an optimal tool for investigating the neural mechanisms underlying the decision-making process. The purpose of the second approach was to investigate local and long-range cortical disconnections or dysfunctions in schizophrenic patients and then to assess the underlying dynamics and functional connectivity between certain brain regions. The reported findings support the notion that impaired local and long range synchronization can both establish underlying mechanisms of dysfunctional complex decision-making in schizophrenic patients. The purpose of the third approach was to develop an EEG hyperscanning system to evaluate social and emotional interactions between the two players, and then to assess the underlying dynamics and the effective connectivity between and within the brain regions of the two players. This is the first study to analyze temporal dynamics and social interactions in human decision-making ...