Social neuroscience and thinking

• Neuroeconomics
• Reasoning
• Social development
• Decision making

Our research agenda ranges from the interplay of cognitive and emotional systems to the investigation of relational complexity in social interaction, and from the psychology of inductive confirmation to inquiries into decision-making processes and models. Robust methods and findings from decision theory are applied to the study of brain structures in a fundamentally multidisciplinary approach involving behavioral research, neuroimaging and neuropsychology. Original experimental procedures and formal theoretical approaches are also employed to investigate human reasoning in hypothesis evaluation and the search for and assessment of evidence.

Neuroscientific approaches to social cognition provide crucial information about the brain regions and processes involved in the perception of social stimuli, decision-making and high level emotions such as fear, regret or guilt. They may, therefore, foster means for diagnosing/measuring the extent of impairment due to cerebral damage and generate rehabilitation tools to help patients lead more fulfilling lives. In addition, theoretical and experimental knowledge of the cognitive and behavioral aspects of induction and decision-making have implications for understanding and intervening in situations such as clinical and legal reasoning. The table in Appendix 1 provides a schematic outline of the completed and ongoing research projects in the above-mentioned research areas.

Neuroeconomics

• Giorgio Coricelli
• Gianpiero Monittola

Reasoning

• Katya Tentori

Social development

Decision making

• Katya Tentori
• Giorgio Coricelli