Decision-Making under Uncertainty

Decision neuroscience examines the neurobiological and computational foundations underlying decision-making. Economic decision-making, for example, about which item to purchase, is thought to depend on internal representations of subjective values related to the expected reward or punishment associated with an option. Economic choices typically involve risk due to inherent unpredictability of outcomes. Perceptual decision-making concerns choices based on sensory information under perceptual uncertainty about stimuli and environmental states, such as whether to drive or stop at a traffic light. Decision-making also requires responding to systematic environmental changes, which increases uncertainty substantially. We present common computational models and review behavioral and neurobiological findings of studies on these important concepts in perceptual and economic decision-making, as well as how these two classes of decision-making interact in natural settings.