Heterogeneity of Money: A View from Neuroscience

Time：May 19th (Thursday) 10:30 -12noon

Location: Zhifuxuan, National School of Development, Peking U.

Speaker: Sheng Feng, Guanghua School of Management

 

Abstract

Neurophysiological research implicates a common reward circuitry in the brain engaged in processing of both monetary and nonmonetary rewards. However, behavioral research argues for heterogeneity both within the category of monetary rewards and between the categories of monetary and nonmonetary rewards. In two essays, laboratory experiments equipped with both behavioral and neurophysiological measurements were conducted to reconcile the discrepancy between the two lines of research. Essay 1 focused on the heterogeneity within the category of monetary rewards. By scanning individuals’ brains when they made decisions with earned money and endowed money, Essay 1 showed how the reward system and the memory system in the brain interacted to generate behavioral bias toward the two types of money. Essay 2 targeted at the heterogeneity between the categories of monetary and nonmonetary rewards. By recording individuals’ neural and physiological activity when they worked for others in exchange for either monetary payments or nonmonetary gifts, Essay 2 revealed how the two types of rewards initiated stress-dominated and pleasure-dominated motivations, respectively. The two essays, together, illustrated how the heterogeneity of monetary rewards can be represented in the framework of the common reward system in the brain and how neuroscience can contribute to our understanding of economic behaviors.

 

Feng Sheng is a PhD candidate in Marketing at Guanghua School of Management of Peking University. He was trained in psychology (B.S., Zhejiang University) and cognitive neuroscience (M.S., Peking University) and used a wide range of tools—behavioral measurements, brain imaging and pharmacological manipulations—to investigate social and economic behaviors. His research appeared in journals such as Cerebral cortex, NeuroImage, Biological Psychology and Social Neuroscience.