Contact information
matthew.rushworth@psy.ox.ac.uk
Anne-Marie Honeyman-Tafa
anne-marie.honeyman-tafa@psy.ox.ac.uk
Research groups
Websites
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Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging
Research Centre
Matthew Rushworth FRS
MA DPhil
Watts Chair and Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Head of Department
- Head of Department
- Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator
Neural mechanisms of decision making and action selection
I am interested in how the brain makes decisions. Every day we make multiple choices about the best course of action to take in a variety of situations. My research is aimed at understanding the brain processes that allow us to work out how good the outcome of a choice might be and which allow us to make decisions between multiple choices.
I have a particular focus on the role played by areas of prefrontal and cingulate cortex. We have found that activity in these brain regions changes as a function of our expectations about how good a choice will be and when a decision is made.
When cognitive processes, such as those involved in decision-making, unfold they involve a number of different brain events. I am also interested in looking at the connexions between brain regions and the interactions they mediate during decision-making and attentional selection.
The lab's focus is on understanding how decision-making mechanisms work in the healthy brain. It is important to understand them because decision-making is such a fundamental aspect of our mental life. In addition, however, we think that some of these processes go awry when people suffer from psychological illnesses.
Key publications
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Social network size affects neural circuits in macaques.
Journal article
Sallet J. et al, (2011), Science, 334, 697 - 700
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Neural mechanisms of foraging.
Journal article
Kolling N. et al, (2012), Science, 336, 95 - 98
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Valuation and decision-making in frontal cortex: one or many serial or parallel systems?
Journal article
Rushworth MFS. et al, (2012), Curr Opin Neurobiol, 22, 946 - 955
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Effects of decision variables and intraparietal stimulation on sensorimotor oscillatory activity in the human brain.
Journal article
Gould IC. et al, (2012), J Neurosci, 32, 13805 - 13818
Recent publications
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General mechanisms of task engagement in the primate frontal cortex.
Journal article
Grohn J. et al, (2024), Nat Commun, 15
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Timing along the cardiac cycle modulates neural signals of reward-based learning.
Journal article
Fouragnan EF. et al, (2024), Nat Commun, 15
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Nuclei-specific hypothalamus networks predict a dimensional marker of stress in humans.
Journal article
Jensen DEA. et al, (2024), Nat Commun, 15
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Relationship between nuclei-specific amygdala connectivity and mental health dimensions in humans.
Journal article
Klein-Flügge MC. et al, (2022), Nat Hum Behav
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A macroscopic link between interhemispheric tract myelination and cortico-cortical interactions during action reprogramming.
Journal article
Lazari A. et al, (2022), Nat Commun, 13