http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11785391
In the late 1990s a generation of academic economists had their eyes
opened by Mr LeDoux’s and other accounts of how studies of the brain
using recently developed techniques such as magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) showed that different bits of the old grey matter are
associated with different sorts of emotional and decision-making
activity. The amygdalas are an example. Neuroscientists have shown
that these almond-shaped clusters of neurons deep inside the medial
temporal lobes play a key role in the formation of emotional
responses such as fear.
These new neuroeconomists saw that it might be possible to move
economics away from its simplified model of rational, self-
interested, utility-maximising decision-making. Instead of
hypothesising about Homo economicus, they could base their research
on what actually goes on inside the head of Homo sapiens.
--ravi
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