Cognitive neuroscience: Sensory noise drives bad decisions

Kaufman, M. T., Churchland, A. K. (2013) Cognitive neuroscience: Sensory noise drives bad decisions. Nature, 496 (7444). pp. 172-173. ISSN 00280836 (ISSN)

Abstract

The decisions that humans and animals make define their existence. Some decisions are carefully considered, such as choosing a mate; other decisions must be quick, such as deciding whether a rustle in the bushes is a companion or a predator. In many situations like the latter one, decisions are based on imperfect sensory evidence accumulated over a second or two, so that the brain can average out background 'noise'. Although we do impressively well in making these quick decisions, we make many mistakes. Writing in Science, Brunton et al.1 combined computational modelling with behavioural studies of rat and human decision-making to uncover where the errors in simple decision-making creep in.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: organism description > animal behavior
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > organs types and functions > brain
organism description > animal behavior > perception > cognition
organism description > animal behavior > decision making
organism description > animal behavior > perception
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Churchland lab
Depositing User: Matt Covey
Date: 2013
Date Deposited: 08 May 2013 14:43
Last Modified: 03 Dec 2014 15:17
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/28287

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