A Neuroeconomics Approach to Pathological Behavior

Psychopathology is complicated and difficult to study. In the last decade an increased number of neuroscientists have been incorporating insights from behavioral economics and techniques from experimental economics in their neurobiological investigations. Recent evidence suggests that this may also be a promising approach for studying the behavioral and neural bases of psychopathology. I will review ideas from neuroeconomics that either have been applied or can be applied to psychopathology, including anxiety-based disorders and substance abuse.