Science Guide

In a quick, non-campaign figurehead-related follow-up to my last post, I have recently become pretty curious about the World of Neuro…  There are blogs and articles alike popping up everywhere on “neuro-economics”, “neuro-marketing” and even “neuro-merchandising” it seems.  They cover new techniques where behavioral study at the neurological level and directed by university-level scientists is applied to economic theory, market research, branding and a host of other related topics anchored in confusing and often contradictory human decision-making habits.

With advances in understanding the brain and identifying patterns as regions light up individually or in symphony in response to stimulus, scientists are getting better and better at pinpointing the true nature of a response without the individual having to confirm what they felt, thought, etc.  Combine that knowledge with the results of a brain scan taken from someone watching, say, a commercial and all of the sudden you can map out where they paid attention, where they were put off, where they were confused and how strong an impression was left in memory.  It’s a pretty tasty dish when you consider how often people’s actions diverge from their statements and their statements diverge from coherent.

Informative Addresses: Center for the Study of Neuroeconomics (CSN) at George Mason University, The New Yorker article “Mind Games: What neuroeconomics tells us about money and the brain.”, Neuromarketing (the Neuroscience Marketing blog), Time Magazine article “Marketing To Your Mind” and New York Times articles “There's a Sucker Born in Every Medial Prefrontal Cortex” & “Is the Ad a Success? The Brain Waves Tell All”.