How do we know what we want? Is it free will that propels us to make decisions or is there something deeper that guides us? What role does our unconscious play in the process? A study of neural mechanisms may provide some answers and even help us predict future choices.
Tonight, neuroscientist Moran Cerf takes us on an exploration of our brain to examine behavior, emotion, decision-making, and dreams. He explains how he directly records the activity of individual nerve cells using electrodes implanted in the patient's brain for clinical purposes. These techniques bypass our conscious minds to unearth our subconscious choices. His focus on the neural mechanisms that underlie decision-making offers a new perspective on predicting future choices and investigating how much free will we will have.
Cerf is a professor of neuroscience and business at the Kellogg School of Management and the neuroscience program at Northwestern University.
