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Brain Sciences
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The Neuroscience of Decision-Making: Linking the Brain, Behavior, and Society
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The Neuroscience of Decision-Making: Linking the Brain, Behavior, and Society

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Behavioral Neuroscience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 1441

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77054, USA
Interests: decision-making; cumulative lifetime stressors; substance use disorders; statistical data analysis; biostatistics
Dr. Giorgio Manenti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Institute of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Ham-burg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
Interests: decision-making; perceptual learning; computational neuroscience

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Understanding decision-making is pivotal to uncovering the mechanisms behind human behavior, which arises from the dynamic interplay of cognitive, emotional, and social factors, with neural circuits adapting to the context and to individual experiences to process information, guide actions, and anticipate outcomes. This Special Issue aims to examine decision-making across a range of contexts, including everyday choices, moral dilemmas, and adaptive behaviors, encouraging studies using behavioral experiments, neuroimaging, computational modeling, and clinical approaches. Submissions may address, but are not limited to:

  • The role of neural circuits in integrating cognition, emotion, and social cues during decision-making;
  • How developmental, environmental, and psychopathological factors influence decision-making processes;
  • Applications of decision-making research in clinical contexts, including early detection and intervention strategies;
  • Advances in computational or experimental methods for studying decision-making in human or animal models;
  • The interplay between social cognition, morality, and society.

This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive forum for theoretical, experimental, and clinical research that deepens our understanding of decision-making processes and their relevance to human behavior, mental health, and society.

Dr. Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon
Guest Editor

Dr. Giorgio Manenti
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • decision-making
  • neural circuits
  • social cognition
  • moral dilemmas
  • adaptive behaviors
  • biopsychosocial factors

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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23 pages, 2966 KiB  
Article
The Power of Food Advertisements: A Brief Mindfulness Instruction Does Not Prevent Psychophysiological Responses Triggered by Food Ads
by Constanza Baquedano, David Martinez-Pernia, Vicente Soto, Álvaro Rivera-Rei, Antonia Zepeda, Alejandra Vasquez-Rosati, Eugenio J. Guzmán-Lavín, Carla Ugarte, Antonio Cepeda-Benito, Vladimir Lopez and Jaime R. Silva
Brain Sci. 2025, 15(3), 240; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15030240 - 25 Feb 2025
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Abstract
Background: Exposure to visually appealing food items can enhance their subjective realism, leading to increased cravings, salivation, and automatic approach tendencies. Prior research suggests that brief mindfulness instructions promoting dereification—recognizing stimuli as transient mental events—can mitigate these automatic reactions. Objectives: This study [...] Read more.
Background: Exposure to visually appealing food items can enhance their subjective realism, leading to increased cravings, salivation, and automatic approach tendencies. Prior research suggests that brief mindfulness instructions promoting dereification—recognizing stimuli as transient mental events—can mitigate these automatic reactions. Objectives: This study assesses whether brief mindfulness instruction can mitigate automatic consumption tendencies induced by food advertisements, exploring the corresponding behavioral, physiological, and neurophysiological mechanisms. Methods: Sixty participants were randomly assigned to two groups: one receiving brief mindfulness instruction and the other a non-dereifying control instruction while exposed to advertised foods. This was followed by an approach–avoidance task (AAT), during which behavioral data, salivary volume, event-related potentials (ERPs) from electroencephalogram recordings, and self-reports were collected. Results: The results showed no significant differences in approach behaviors between the groups. Hunger, food craving, and salivation levels increased uniformly in response to food cues for both groups. The N1, N2, P3, and late positive potential (LPP) ERPs remained unaltered by the instructions and consistent with the established AAT literature. Advertising heightened the appeal of neutral foods, as evidenced by increased N2, P3, and LPP responses. Conclusions: The brief mindfulness instruction failed to shield participants from the automatic responses elicited by food advertising, contrasting with the effects seen with non-advertised food. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Neuroscience of Decision-Making: Linking the Brain, Behavior, and Society)
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27 pages, 903 KiB  
Systematic Review
Neurosustainability: A Scoping Review on the Neuro-Cognitive Bases of Sustainable Decision-Making
by Letizia Richelli, Maria Arioli and Nicola Canessa
Brain Sci. 2025, 15(7), 678; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15070678 (registering DOI) - 25 Jun 2025
Abstract
As climate change continues to endanger a sustainable global condition, a growing literature investigates how to pursue green practices to fight its effects. Individuals are the essential starting point for such bottom-up attempts, with their attitudes towards sustainability driving pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). Objectives [...] Read more.
As climate change continues to endanger a sustainable global condition, a growing literature investigates how to pursue green practices to fight its effects. Individuals are the essential starting point for such bottom-up attempts, with their attitudes towards sustainability driving pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). Objectives: Based on the available relevant literature, this scoping review aims to delve into the processes underlying people’s sustainable decision-making (SDM) associated with PEBs. Methods: A scientific literature search was performed through (a) an active database search and (b) the identification of studies via reference and citation tracking. Results were screened and selected in Rayyan. Results: Included articles (n = 30) heterogeneously reported cognitive and neural aspects of SDM shaping PEBs. These proved to (a) recruit brain areas involved in mentalizing and moral cognition (likely because of their role in processing the interplay between personal and contextual factors rather than moral considerations in themselves); (b) undergo the same modulatory influences shaping other kinds of prosocial/cooperative behaviors; and (c) include brain areas involved in attentional/monitoring and emotional/motivational processes, alongside those consistently associated with decision-making processes. Conclusions: These results help interpret the available evidence on the neuro-cognitive bases of SDM while focusing on potential interventions to foster better practices and mitigate the adverse repercussions of climate change on human and global health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Neuroscience of Decision-Making: Linking the Brain, Behavior, and Society)
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