International Symposium on the Neural Basis of Decision Making

Organized by:

the Helmholtz Institute (Utrecht University)

the Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience (University Medical Center Utrecht/Utrecht University)

the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour (Radboud University Nijmegen)

We organize two closely related symposia on "the neural basis of decision making". Our symposia are dedicated to the problem of understanding how humans and animals form decisions that enable them to plan and execute purposeful behavior in environments that contain many potential alternatives, and how their decisions are influenced by motivational and emotional factors. The first symposium (April 20-21) revolves around the topic of how the brain can deal with multiple alternatives that compete for attention, perception and goal-directed action. The second symposium (April 21-22) sets out to understand the interplay between emotions and decision-making. See the links below for more details. Both symposia will take place in "De Poort", Groesbeek, The Netherlands, which is situated in a stimulating setting in the woods near Nijmegen. Top experts in the field from Europe and the USA will contribute keynote lectures. PhD students and postdocs are encouraged to present a poster of their work related to the topic. The symposia are organized back-to-back, so that it is possible to register for either symposium separately, or for both. For further questions you can email decisionmaking2009@yahoo.com

Online registration has been opened the 25th of february!

Tentative Programme

April 20/21/22 (2009), Conference venue "De Poort", Groesbeek, The Netherlands.

Below you find the tentative programme for both symposia. Note that the program might be due to change in the coming days.

Symposium 1: Decision Making in Goal-Directed Behavior

Monday 20/4/2009

9.00-9.45 Registration
9.45-10.00 Welcome and Introduction (Bas Neggers, UMC Utrecht)
10.00-12.45 Effector selection (chair: Pieter Medendorp, Radboud University Nijmegen)
- 10:00-10:45 Reza Shadmehr (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
  "A computational view of motor control"
- 10:45-11:30 Larry Snyder (Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA)
  "Effector-specific and arm-specific processing in the posterior parietal cortex: evidence from recording and lesions"
- 11:30-11:45 Coffee Break
- 11:45-12:15 Pieter Medendorp (Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands)
  "Effector-specific signals in the human brain during eye, hand, and foot movements"
- 12:15-12:45 Stan Gielen (Radboud University Nijmegen)
  "On the role of internal feedback in eye-hand coordination"

12.45-13.45 Lunch

13.15-15.00 poster session. (chair: Tjerk Gutteling, UMC Utrecht)

15.00-18.00 Response selection

(chairs: Bas Neggers, UMC Utrecht/ John van Opstal, Radboud University Nijmegen)
- 15:00-15:45 Jean-René Duhamel (Lyon, France)
  "Parietal and frontal lobe contributions to covert attention mechanisms."
- 15:45-16:15 John van Opstal (Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  "Audiovisual control of saccades in a complex environment is optimal."
- 16:15-16:30 Coffee Break
- 16:30-17:00 Maarten Frens (Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
  "Statistics predict kinematics of hand movements during everyday activity."
- 17:00-17:30 Bas Neggers (Rudolf Magnus Institute, UMC Utrecht, The Netherlands)
  "Function of cortico-striatal and cortico-tectal pathways in response selection: an integrated DTI/fMRI approach."
- 17:30-18:15 Michele Basso (University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI,USA)
  "A probabilistic strategy for understanding action selection"

19.00 Dinner

Tuesday 21/4/2009

10.00-12.45 Perceptual selection (chair: Raymond van Ee, Utrecht University)
- 10:00-10:45Jeroen Smeets (VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
  "Fast adaptation of cue weights for goal-directed movements."
- 10.45-11.15 Ryota Kanai (UCL, London, UK)
  "Perceptual blindness and attentional blindness revealed by second-order signal detection analysis"
- 11:15-11:30 Coffee Break
- 11.30-12.15 M. Wexler (CNRS/Université Paris V, France)
  "Different role of perceived depth cues for vision and eye movements"
- 12:15-12:45 Raymond van Ee (Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
  "Multimodal congruency as a mechanism for attentional control over perceptual selection"

12.45-14.00 Lunch (optional)

Symposium 2: Decisions and Emotions

Decisions and Emotions 1 (chair: Richard van Wezel, Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
- 14.00-14.45 Scott Huettel (Duke University, USA)
  "Risky choice reconsidered: Reward and Control in Strategic Decision Making"
- 14.45-15.30 Richard Ridderinkhof (University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
  "Never Trust a Stranger - Neural and Computational Bases of Social-Affective Influences on Economic Decision-Making"

15.30-16.00 Coffee break

Decisions and Emotions 2 (chair: Bert van den Berg, Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
- 16.00-16.45 Dave Perrett (University of St-Andrews, UK)
  "Facial cues that influence emotional reactions"
- 16.45-17.15 Richard van Wezel (Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
  "The influence of spatial and temporal context on perceptual decisions"

19.00 Dinner

Wednesday 22/4/2009

Decisions and Emotions 3 (chair: Leon Kenemans, Utrecht University)
- 9.30-10.15 Stijn Massar (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
  "Individual differences in reinforcement learning: ACC reactivity and baseline EEG"
- 10.15-11.00 Ben Seymour (UCL, UK)
  "Integrating rewards and punishments in the brain"

11.00-11.30 Coffee break

Decisions and Emotions 4 (chair: Leon Kenemans)
- 11.30-12.15 Allan Sanfey (University of Arizona, USA)
  "Fairness, trust, and reciprocity in social decision-making"
- 12.15-13.00 Dennis Schutter (Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
  "Who dares wins? Electrophysiological correlates of reward-punishment sensitivity in risk taking"
13.00-14.30 Lunch/poster session

14.30 - 15.15 Mark Neerincx (TNO, The Netherlands)
"Computer-mediated emotions"
15.15 - 15.45 Leon Kenemans (Helmholtz Institute, Utrecht University, Netherlands)
"Impulsivity, delay aversion, and risk taking"