Studying the Role of Brain Molecules for Decision Making

The aim of the present project is to elucidate the neuropharmacological mechanisms underlying value (choice preference) and attention (choice randomness) processing in humans. More specifically, the investigators test whether dopaminergic, noradrenergic and cholinergic interventions affect neural and behavioral processing of valuation and attention during decision-making. The investigators do this by up-regulating dopaminergic, noradrenergic or cholinergic neurotransmission pharmacologically through administration of methylphenidate, reboxetine, or nicotine. We test the hypothesis that methylphenidate, reboxetine, or nicotine reduce choice randomness and that this effect is underpinned by an effect on attention and/or value processing.