The amygdala has long been associated with emotion and motivation, playing an essential
part in processing both fearful and rewarding environmental stimuli. How can a single …

Recent advancements in cognitive neuroscience have afforded a description of neural
responses in terms of latent algorithmic operations. However, the adoption of this approach …

The outcome of a decision is often uncertain, and outcomes can vary over repeated
decisions. Whether decision outcomes should substantially affect behaviour and learning …

We propose a Survival Optimization System (SOS) to account for the strategies that humans
and other animals use to defend against recurring and novel threats. The SOS attempts to …

In everyday life, the outcomes of our actions are rarely certain. Further, we often lack the
information needed to precisely estimate the probability and value of potential outcomes as …

Although the prevalent view of emotion and decision making is derived from the notion that
there are dual systems of emotion and reason, a modulatory relationship more accurately …

Successful goal-directed behavior critically depends on performance monitoring, a set of
cognitive and affective functions determining whether adaptive control is needed and, if so …

Previous research has stressed the importance of uncertainty for controlling the speed of
learning, and how such control depends on the learner inferring the noise properties of the …

People's decisions and judgments are disproportionately swayed by improbable but
extreme eventualities, such as terrorism, that come to mind easily. This article explores …

The central amygdala (CeA) is implicated in a range of mental processes including attention,
motivation, memory formation and extinction and in behaviours driven by either aversive or …