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decision making

·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.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 27, 2025·5 min read

How the Brain Forms Indirect Associations to Guide Complex Decisions

A new study reveals how the brain can make decisions based not only on direct experiences, but also on indirect associations between seemingly unrelated stimuli. In experiments with mice, researchers showed that a sweet taste could be rejected after it was indirectly linked to an aversive event through a shared scent.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·June 26, 2025·4 min read

Smarter Minds Predict Better: IQ Linked to Sharper Life Forecasting

New research reveals that individuals with higher IQs are significantly better at predicting future outcomes, leading to smarter decision-making. Using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, researchers assessed how accurately people over 50 could estimate their own life expectancy. High-IQ individuals were found to make more precise forecasts—errors were less frequent and less extreme compared to their lower-IQ counterparts.

This shows a brain behind a mountain and balls.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 25, 2025·5 min read

How Brain Cells Coordinate to Make Complex Decisions

Every decision begins subtly, as the brain weighs options long before action. Researchers have now shown that, despite individual differences in neuron activity, a shared underlying structure guides the brain toward unified decisions.

$This shows a woman and math symbols.$

Featured Neuroscience

·May 20, 2025·4 min read

Modeling Human Behavior with Math

A new study shows that mathematical models can shape human decisions more effectively than traditional psychological strategies. Researchers introduced “choice engineering,” a data-driven alternative to “choice architecture,” which relies on heuristics and intuition. In a global academic challenge, models like CATIE—designed to reflect real behavioral trends—outperformed both intuitive strategies and standard machine learning tools.

Featured Neuroethics Neuroscience

·May 6, 2025·3 min read

Bodily Awareness Guides Moral Decision-Making

New research shows that people’s sensitivity to their internal bodily signals influences how closely they align with group moral preferences in dilemmas. Participants who were more aware of their heartbeat and internal states tended to make ethical choices that matched the group consensus.

This shows a brain and a person at a cross roads.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 25, 2025·6 min read

Serotonin Neurons Challenge Old Views of Brain Function

Serotonin neurons in the brainstem are not independent, as once thought, but interact to influence decision-making. Researchers found that clusters of serotonin neurons compete and collaborate, shaping when and how serotonin is released throughout the brain.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·April 17, 2025·5 min read

Natural Disaster Trauma Disrupts Brain’s Decision Circuits

Survivors of the 2018 Camp Fire in California exhibit long-term cognitive changes, particularly in decision-making. Participants directly exposed to the wildfire showed reduced ability to choose long-term rewards and displayed hyperactivity in brain regions tied to rumination.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 15, 2025·5 min read

Mild Brain Stimulation Alters Decision-Making Speed and Flexibility

A new study shows that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a non-invasive brain stimulation method, can influence how quickly and flexibly people make decisions. Researchers targeted the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex—key in planning and action—while participants performed simultaneous visual and auditory tasks.

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decision making

Most Daily Actions Run on Habit, Not Conscious Choice

New Brain Map Shows How Decisions Emerge Across the Brain

Brain Circuit Model Reveals How Striatum Shapes Everyday Decisions

Tiny AI Models Reveal How We Really Make Decisions

How the Brain Forms Indirect Associations to Guide Complex Decisions

Smarter Minds Predict Better: IQ Linked to Sharper Life Forecasting

How Brain Cells Coordinate to Make Complex Decisions

Modeling Human Behavior with Math

Bodily Awareness Guides Moral Decision-Making

Serotonin Neurons Challenge Old Views of Brain Function

Natural Disaster Trauma Disrupts Brain’s Decision Circuits

Mild Brain Stimulation Alters Decision-Making Speed and Flexibility

Scramblase CLPTM1L May Drive Glioblastoma

Why Willpower Fails and How to Restore Focus

Unmasking the Epigenetic Disparity in Anxiety Disorders

Two Distinct Autism Subtypes Identified Via Brain Connectivity

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