Full Description

In the years since it first published, Neuroeconomics: Decision Making and the Brain has become the standard reference and textbook in the burgeoning field of neuroeconomics. The second edition, a nearly complete revision of this landmark book, will set a new standard. This new edition features five sections designed to serve as both classroom-friendly introductions to each of the major subareas in neuroeconomics, and as advanced synopses of all that has been accomplished in the last two decades in this rapidly expanding academic discipline. The first of these sections provides useful introductions to the disciplines of microeconomics, the psychology of judgment and decision, computational neuroscience, and anthropology for scholars and students seeking interdisciplinary breadth. The second section provides an overview of how human and animal preferences are represented in the mammalian nervous systems. Chapters on risk, time preferences, social preferences, emotion, pharmacology, and common neural currencies—each written by leading experts—lay out the foundations of neuroeconomic thought. The third section contains both overview and in-depth chapters on the fundamentals of reinforcement learning, value learning, and value representation. The fourth section, “The Neural Mechanisms for Choice,” integrates what is known about the decision-making architecture into state-of-the-art models of how we make choices. The final section embeds these mechanisms in a larger social context, showing how these mechanisms function during social decision-making in both humans and animals. The book provides a historically rich exposition in each of its chapters and emphasizes both the accomplishments and the controversies in the field. A clear explanatory style and a single expository voice characterize all chapters, making core issues in economics, psychology, and neuroscience accessible to scholars from all disciplines. The volume is essential reading for anyone interested in neuroeconomics in particular or decision making in general.

• Editors and contributing authors are among the acknowledged experts and founders in the field, making this the authoritative reference for neuroeconomics
• Suitable as an advanced undergraduate or graduate textbook as well as a thorough reference for active researchers
• Introductory chapters on economics, psychology, neuroscience, and anthropology provide students and scholars from any discipline with the keys to understanding this interdisciplinary field
• Detailed chapters on subjects that include reinforcement learning, risk, inter-temporal choice, drift-diffusion models, game theory, and prospect theory make this an invaluable reference
• Published in association with the Society for Neuroeconomics—www.neuroeconomics.org
• Full-color presentation throughout with numerous carefully selected illustrations to highlight key concepts

Table of Contents

Foreword Introduction Section 1: The Fundamental Tools of Neuroeconomics 1. Basic Methods from Neoclassical Economics 2. Experimental Economics and Experimental Game Theory 3. Computational Models of Decision-Making from Psychology and Behavioral Economics 4. Estimation and Testing of Computational Models 5. Computational Neuroscience 6. Experimental Methods in Cognitive Neuroscience 7. The Economics of Non-Human Primates Section 2: Risk, Time, Social and Emotional Preferences 8. Computation of value in simple choices 9. Valuation for Risky and Uncertain Choices 10. Valuation, Intertemporal Choice and Self Control 11. Neuroeconomics of Social Preferences 12. The Study of Emotion in Decision Making 13. Valuation and Common Neural Currencies 14. The pharmacology of economic and social decision-making Section 3: Learning and Valuation 15. Value Learning through Reinforcement: The Basics of Dopamine and RL 16. Advanced Issues in Reinforcement Learning 17. The Basal Ganglia, Reinforcement Learning and The Encoding of Value 18. From Experienced Utility to Decision Utility Section 4: The Neural Mechanisms for Choice 19. Neural Mechanisms for Perceptual Decision-Making 20. Value-based Decision-Making 21. Multiple Systems for Valuation and Choice 22. Integrating Benefits and Costs in Decision-Making 23. Dynamic Neuronal Models of Choice 24. Reference Dependent Values and Normalization Section 5: Brain Circuitry of Social Valuation and Social Choice 25. The Brain Circuity for Strategic Interactions 26. The Brain Circuity for social decision-making in non-human primates 27. Understanding Others: Brain Mechanisms of Theory of Mind and Empathy Epilogue: Summary, Conclusions, and Prognostications Appendix: Using Prospect Theory