| Project Detail |
When you look at a given object - are you calculating its value even if not prompted to doWhen you look at a given object - are you calculating its value even if not prompted to do so? Most theories of valuation claim that choice, prompt or in general elicitation are needed to induce valuation. However, the well-known mere exposure effect dating back to 1968, suggests that merely viewing an item can induce valuation and even enhance value. In this proposal I aim to demonstrate that valuation is an early and automatic process relying on visual, attentional and motor systems. PassiveValueMarkers offers a novel framework to identify biomarkers of value of individual items passively, without elicitation. The aims of PassiveValueMarkers are: 1) Identifying behavioural and neural passive markers for individual items using computational modelling in and influencing these markers ; 2) Detecting passive markers of value in gaze pattern analysis behaviourally and in the brain using fMRI; 3) Considering the gap that exists between laboratory studies and the real world, I will identify passive value markers in naturalistic virtual reality environments. The overreaching aim of this proposal is to develop a new theoretical framework on individual passive value construction and change. To do so, I will use a unique combination of neuroimaging, computational modelling, gaze-tracking analysis and virtual reality. This research will directly address an understudied area of how value for individual items is formed by the brain without active prompt or elicitation. Uncovering the mechanisms of passive value representation at the single item level and individualized per participant, will allow to design closed loop manipulations at the item level. This approach will serve as the basis for developing novel evidence-based methods for enhanced preference modification in healthy participants and in disorders with abnormal valuation such as addictions, mental illness, and eating disorders. |
