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© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. The effects of the neuromodulator serotonin on affect and behavior are so diverse and wide-ranging that characterizing its function has faced substantial challenges. Here we review recent work investigating how serotonin shapes affective and social decision-making in humans, focusing in particular on serotonin's influence on aversive processing. We consider the evidence that serotonin plays a key role in linking so-called Pavlovian aversive predictions with behavioral inhibition, a proposal derived from computational models of value-based decision-making. We evaluate the extent to which a core mechanism connecting serotonin with Pavlovian inhibition can explain diverse effects of serotonin on affective and social decision-making and highlight critical questions for future research.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.08.005

Type

Journal article

Journal

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences

Publication Date

01/10/2015

Volume

5

Pages

64 - 70