| Affiliations: | Neuroscience Research Leadership |
| Project Leader: | Mianzhi Hu
rudolfhu@tamu.edu Psychological & Brain Sciences |
| Faculty Mentor: | Darrell Worthy, Ph.D. |
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Meeting Times:
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TBA |
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Team Size:
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3
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| Open Spots: | 0 |
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Special Opportunities:
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earning co-authorship on publications; learning computational skills; becoming a member of the research group |
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Team Needs:
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Advanced coding skills; advanced data analytic skills |
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Description:
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According to the well-established somatic marker hypothesis (SMH), individuals rely on visceral and somatosensory signals, arising from bioregulatory processes, to navigate decision-making in scenarios marked by complexity and uncertainty (Damasio, 1994; Dunn et al., 2006). These signals, or “somatic markers”, are believed to operate unconsciously and deter people from suboptimal choices. However, subsequent research has raised questions about the fundamental premise of the SMH, which posits that somatic markers are aligned with the optimality of the available choices (Lin et al., 2007; Tomb et al., 2002).
The current study has two main purposes. First, we will examine the pattern of anticipatory and outcome galvanic skin responses (GSR) during decision-making tasks. These tasks are marked by their varying reward/loss uncertainty, magnitude, and frequency. Second, we aim to determine how these physiological responses, or, somatic markers, are affected by individual difference factors such as personality, internal/external psychopathological symptoms, substance use, attention, cognitive control, and/or beliefs. |