Wednesday 10 September 2008

Insights from neuroeconomics 1

An irregular update from the field of neuroeconomics, the frontier where neuroscience meets economics, and where startling discoveries are emerging.

Insight 1: Don't be trying to figure out what to eat for dinner and/or how much to pay for it if someone is firing magnetic pulses at your head at the time.

One new technique being used by some neuroeconomists is transcranial magnetic stimulation, in which a coil held next to the head issues a low-level magnetic pulse that temporarily disrupts activity in a certain part of the brain, to see if that changes the subject’s preferences—for example, for a particular food and how much he is willing to pay for it.

Source: The Economnist

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