Julian Wills

The seed grant has already been applied to the $6,293 total. So we still need 35% to reach our target.

Hi Jan, good point! Fortunately, our fMRI scans can reach all those important subcortical structures, such as amygdala, basal ganglia, hippocampus, etc. Other neuroimaging methods, such as EEG, are more limited in that regard.

Hi Oscar, thanks for the great question. Our most recent labpost actually speaks to this (which I've copied below). But the short answer is: descriptive norms. Basically, our subjects will be encountering responses based on two previously collected datasets: at one university, where cooperation was the norm, and another, where self-interest was the norm. https://experiment.com/u/lu4tSA

More good questions! We may address these in a future lab post, but for now: (1) full scanning sessions will last roughly 1 hour, (2) four functional scans (sort of like "movies" of brain activation), one anatomical scan (basically a high-resolution "picture", that allows us to map activation to specific structures), and a few calibration scans to help with data collection/analysis, (3) scans will reflect activation that correspond to "decisions" made in the game as well as "feedback" about the other players' decisions, and (4) the subjects make decisions with a "button box", which are then time-logged and recorded using software called E-Prime.

Good question! MRI scanners are superconducting magnets, which means they can only maintain their magnetic properties under extremely cold temperatures (hence, the liquid helium). So once all that helium boils off from the quench, the rapid increase in temperature quickly attenuates the intensity of the magnetic field. Remarkably, I've heard this happens in a matter of seconds; that's why it's so helpful in the event of an emergency! Unfortunately, that's about the stretch of my MRI physics, but if you'd like to know more, I can get one of our full-time MRI technicians to sign on tomorrow. They're extremely knowledgeable and love fielding good questions like this.