Decision Neuroscience and Neuroeconomics: Recent Progress and Ongoing Challenges

Abstract

In the past decade, decision neuroscience and its subfield of neuroeconomics have developed many new insights in the study of decision making. This review provides a comprehensive update on how the field has advanced in this time. Although our initial review a decade ago outlined several theoretical, conceptual, methodological, empirical, and practical challenges, there has only been limited progress in resolving these challenges. We summarize significant trends in decision neuroscience through the lens of the challenges outlined for the field and review examples where the field has had significant, direct, and applicable impacts across psychology, neuroscience, and economics. We will first review progress in basic value processes involved in reward learning, explore-exploit decisions, risk and uncertainty, intertemporal choice, and valuation. Next, we assess the impacts of emotion, social rewards, and social context on decision making. Then, we follow up with how individual differences impact choice, and exciting developments in prediction and neuroforecasting of future decisions. Finally, we will consider overall progress in the field of decision neuroscience in reconciling past challenges, identifying new challenges, and recent exciting applications of this research.