How the brain weighs different features when making choices
Mechanisms of multi-attribute decision-making
Learning how a part of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex helps people weigh costs and qualities of options to better understand decision problems seen in psychiatric conditions.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | New York University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11374700 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
This project aims to build a detailed model of how the orbitofrontal cortex handles multiple attributes (like cost and quality) when you make choices. The team will combine behavioral tasks, brain recordings, and computational modeling to compare whether the brain forms a single integrated value for each option or lets attributes directly compete, possibly guided by attention. By testing these different frameworks with multi-modal data, they hope to map specific decision-making problems to underlying brain computations. The findings are intended to clarify the mechanisms behind poor decision-making in psychiatric disorders.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with psychiatric conditions that include decision-making problems—such as addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or mood disorders—would be most relevant for this work.
Not a fit: People without decision-making or orbitofrontal-cortex-related difficulties, or those seeking immediate clinical treatment, are unlikely to gain direct benefit from this basic neuroscience-focused project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to specific brain computations behind poor decision-making and guide new approaches to diagnose or treat decision-related symptoms in psychiatric conditions.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research has linked orbitofrontal cortex changes to decision problems in psychiatric illness, but the comprehensive multi-modal modeling approach here is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- New York University — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Rich, Erin L — New York University
- Study coordinator: Rich, Erin L
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.