Speaker: Professor Gavan McNally
University of New South Wales, Sydney
Title: How punishment shapes our actions and choices
Abstract:
Across a variety of domains from health to justice to the environment, our decisions are strongly influenced by their consequences. When our decisions have positive consequences, we are likely to repeat them. When they have negative consequences, we are not. We typically learn from our mistakes to make better decisions in the future. This ability to learn from our mistakes is called punishment learning. It is essential to healthy decision-making and sustains mutually beneficial behaviors essential for group cooperation and social cohesion. I will describe our recent work assessing the brain architecture and activity dynamics of punishment learning, identifying distinctive global and local properties that distinguish punishment from other forms of learning. Then, using a fully translational approach, I will show how it is possible to reliably screen for differences between individuals in punishment learning and how these differences drive maladaptive choices that are remarkably persistent and resistant to correction.
About Neuroscience Seminars
Neuroscience seminars at the QBI play a major role in the advancement of neuroscience in the Asia-Pacific region. The primary goal of these seminars is to promote excellence in neuroscience through the exchange of ideas, establishing new collaborations and augmenting partnerships already in place.
Seminars in the QBI Auditorium on Level 7 are held on Wednesdays at 12-1pm, which are sometimes simulcast on Zoom (with approval from the speaker). We also occassionally hold seminars from international speakers via Zoom. The days and times of these seminars will vary depending on the time zone of the speaker. Please see each seminar listed below for details.
