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decision making

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·March 5, 2026·9 min read

Compulsivity is Driven by a Fear of the Unknown

Scientists discover that people with compulsive traits rely on repetitive behaviors because they feel less certain about how their future actions will play out.

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Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 2, 2026·6 min read

Why Socializing Loses to Alcohol in Addiction

New research reveals that activity in the anterior insula primes the brain to choose alcohol over social interaction, offering a new target for addiction treatment.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 1, 2026·6 min read

Why We Repeat Decisions That No Longer Make Sense

Stuck on repeat. A major study reveals that our brains prefer repeating past decisions over weighing new facts, turning simple actions into "irrational" long-term habits.

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Featured Neuroscience

·February 24, 2026·9 min read

Beyond Fear: Amygdala is the Brain’s Strategic Mediator

It’s time to retire the "fear center" label. Scientists discover that the amygdala is actually a strategic arbiter that helps the brain navigate complex choices.

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Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·December 22, 2025·5 min read

Cues Can Hijack Decision Making in Some People

Some individuals rely heavily on visual and sound cues when making decisions, and this sensitivity can lead to persistent maladaptive choices. When cue–outcome associations shift, these individuals struggle to update their beliefs, continuing to follow outdated signals even when doing so becomes risky.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 13, 2025·7 min read

The Hidden Risks You Make Every Day

Researchers surveyed more than 4,300 people to create the first large-scale inventory of modern real-life risky choices, revealing which decisions people actually struggle with in daily life. The most common risks weren’t financial or recreational—they were job-related choices, such as quitting or starting a new role, followed by health, financial, and social decisions.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 3, 2025·4 min read

Brain Circuit Found to Shape Risk and Impulse Differently by Sex

Researchers exploring risky decision-making in rats found that a specific reward-related neural circuit influences impulsivity and risk-taking in complex ways that depend on timing and biological sex. Manipulating the circuit during the learning phase of a gambling task altered risky choices differently in males and females, while manipulation after learning affected motor impulsivity in both.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 9, 2025·8 min read

Brain Cells That Thrive on Uncertainty Help Us Adapt and Learn

Scientists have discovered a group of brain cells in the orbitofrontal cortex that become more active when outcomes are uncertain, revealing how the brain adapts and learns from unpredictable situations. These neurons—found in both rats and humans—help balance flexibility and precision in decision-making, particularly when rewards are inconsistent.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·September 22, 2025·5 min read

Most Daily Actions Run on Habit, Not Conscious Choice

New research shows that nearly two-thirds of daily behaviors are triggered by habit rather than conscious decision-making. Participants often acted automatically in familiar settings, reflecting learned associations.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 3, 2025·7 min read

New Brain Map Shows How Decisions Emerge Across the Brain

In a groundbreaking collaboration, scientists created the first complete brain-wide map of decision-making in mammals, charting the activity of more than 600,000 neurons across 279 regions in mice. Using steering wheel tasks and high-density electrode recordings, they found that decision-related signals are far more widely distributed across the brain than previously thought.

This shows a brain with the striatum highlighted.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 14, 2025·5 min read

Brain Circuit Model Reveals How Striatum Shapes Everyday Decisions

Researchers have developed a computational framework that maps how the striosomal compartment of the striatum governs everyday decision-making. By integrating biology, decision theory, and mathematical modeling, the study reveals that different levels of striosomal activity can push individuals toward impulsive, balanced, or overly complex decisions.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 18, 2025·5 min read

Tiny AI Models Reveal How We Really Make Decisions

Decision-making often involves trial and error, but conventional models assume we always act optimally based on past experience. A new study used small, interpretable artificial neural networks to uncover how humans and animals actually make choices—revealing the suboptimal strategies we often use.