A neuroeconomic map of the brain’s valuation centres (SambrookTU20PSY2)

This is a part-time 0.5 FTE project linked with a 0.5 FTE employment contract as an EEG technician

Decision-making in humans and other animals is heavily influenced by prior experience with the decision problem at hand. Behavioural scientists have traditionally assumed that positive and negative outcomes previously arising from an action are combined into a single valuation indicating that action’s likely profitability in the future (cost-benefit analysis), thus providing a basis for rational choice between actions. Behavioural economics suggests no such integration occurs and our behaviour is determined by competition between cognitive controllers sensitive to reward and punishment. For your Ph.D. you will be a developing techniques to identify these controllers and profile them based on their neural activity in response to reward (e.g. money, tasty food, attractive images) and punishment (e.g. monetary loss, electric shock, bitter tastes). You should have programming experience, ideally in MATLAB or R “You should have either training in psychology research methods (e.g. an MSc Psychology) or a degree in computer science or related field and the willingness to undergo psychology research training while doing your Ph.D. Experience with EEG acquisition and analysis would be beneficial but not essential”

Applicants for this studentship must also apply for the 0.5fte EEG Technician position, which will be posted on 1st November 2019 and close on 28th November 2019.
See https://myview.uea.ac.uk/webrecruitment/ for further details.

Interested applicants should contact the supervisor named above to discuss preparing a specific proposal on this topic, which is required as part of the PhD application.

Inquiries regarding the structure of this project (PhD + Employment contract) should be directed to Dr. Natalie Wyer at [Email Address Removed]