Distinguished Lecture Series: John O’Doherty (Dublin & Caltech)
In model-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), signals derived from a computational model for a specific cognitive process are correlated against fMRI data from subjects performing a relevant task to determine brain regions showing a response profile consistent with that model. A key advantage of this technique over more conventional neuroimaging approaches is that model-based fMRI can provide insights into how a particular cognitive process is implemented in a specific brain area as opposed to merely identifying where a particular process is located. In this talk I will briefly summarize the approach of model-based fMRI, with reference to the field of reward learning and decision making, where computational models have been used to probe the neural mechanisms underlying learning of reward associations, modifying action choice to obtain reward, as well as in encoding expected value signals that reflect the abstract structure of a decision problem. Finally, I will show how model-based fMRI can be extended into the social domain in order to characterize the possible computations underlying mentalizing or theory of mind during strategic interactions. John O'Doherty is Thomas N Mitchell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, and at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
