Making decisions is difficult. Understanding how we make decisions is even more challenging. This line of research focuses on understanding the fundamentals and common mechanisms in decision making under uncertainty and risky behavior. 

We follow a multilevel approach using a variety of analytical methods. Combining behavior, computational and systems neuroscience, we aim to understand the role that different brain regions have in processing the value of information about appetitive but also aversive outcomes.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), autism, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), drug abuse, and other conditions are characterized by high levels of uncertainty avoidance.

Human and animal research has demonstrated that decision-making is impaired with alcohol use. However, there is limited research regarding the role of information in animal models of alcohol use disorder. Our lab aims to contribute a new piece of information to this puzzle.

We have previously found that rats are capable of reasoning similar to humans. Gonzalez et al. (2023) discovered that rats commit the conjunction fallacy, much like humans do.

Research on reasoning and imagination is sparse and often overlooked. Here, we aim to investigate the extent of rats' capacity to reason and the brain pathways involved in this process.

Often, traditional approaches to human research involve tasks that are monotonous, repetitive, and with responses that are very cheap for the participant (i.e., mouse clicks). We have developed an app that integrates AR technology. In this app, participants play a game set in real space (similar to Pokémon Go), which we will use to ask questions about how humans make decisions in an environment more akin to animal models of decision-making.