In an uncertain world, people and other animals make their living by
predicting which of alternative courses of action is likely to yield
the best return. For humans the return might take many forms, such as
material, financial, social, or esthetic, but the underlying currency
involved for any species is “inclusive fitness,” the rate
at which an animal's genes are propagated. Professor Glimcher
demonstrates that Economics methods are applicable to decision-making
under conditions of uncertainty, both at the behavioral and the
neuronal level. This approach has been called neuro-economics, although
“econometrics” characterizes it more precisely.
Econometrics is the application of statistical and mathematical methods
in the field of economics to test and quantify economic theories and
the solution to economic problems. Specifically, individuals'
decision-making benefits from knowing how likely a response is to be
reinforced, and knowing the reinforcement's value. Even single
neurons are sensitive to these variables. Glimcher reaches beyond the
heavily studied neural substrate for sensation and response to
predictive neural circuitry that factors in the prior probability of
reward, and its expected value. Indeed, he and his colleagues have
identified neurons in monkey's inferior parietal lobule whose
firing rates reflect both probability and value.
Watching the brain in action: creating tools for functional analysis of neural circuitry
