Long implicated in aversive processing, the amygdala is now recognised as a key reward system. I will present new data from single-neuron recordings and computational modelling that may help reveal the functions of this enigmatic structure. Our findings show that primate amygdala neurons (i) process nutrients and sensory food qualities as biological sources of economic values; (ii) encode a three-step decision mechanism that derives object choices from object-independent, view-based computations; (iii) learn to simulate decision processes of social partners to predict the partners’ choices.

Fabian Grabenhorst studied psychology at the University of Bielefeld in Germany, followed by a DPhil in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. He then trained in neurophysiology at the University of Cambridge, before starting a research group at Cambridge as a Wellcome Dale Fellow. In 2021, he re-joined the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford as Associate Professor.

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