Computational Affective Neuroscience Lab

Our lab uses brain imaging and computational modelling to develop new psychological models of how attitudes (i.e., relatively stable ideas about whether something is good or bad) exert powerful influences on people’s evaluations (i.e. their current appraisals) and these, in turn, influence people’s choices (of friends, careers, consumer products, even presidents). This research not only informs how the brain works, but also informs how we make decisions about the world – both deliberatively as well as unconsciously.

One important question that we explore concerns how the human mind creates representations of value. This ubiquitous act of assigning positive or negative valence is crucial for survival, whether it involves guiding behaviour toward or away from an immediate significant object or anticipation of future rewards and punishments in goal pursuit.