The Experimental Manipulation of Uncertainty

  • Dominik R. Bach
  • Christopher R. Pryce
  • Erich Seifritz
Protocol
First Online:
Part of the Neuromethods book series (NM, volume 50)

Abstract

Uncertainty is an important concept in neuroscience: due to its relevance in everyday life, because of theoretical significance for neurocomputational models, and clinical implications. A body of empirical research has tackled fundamental questions about how uncertainty is represented in the brain and what impact it has on behaviour. In this chapter, we review how uncertainty on different variables can be studied in isolation and how it can be quantified. Building on theoretical and empirical work that has been carried out so far, we propose rigorous experimental designs that should help in testing and understanding uncertainty and its translational relevance to adaptive behaviour and affective disorders.

Key words:

Uncertainty entropy variance probabilistic hierarchical cognitive neuroscience functional neuroimaging fMRI MEG psychiatry 
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Notes

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Jean Daunizeau for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  • Dominik R. Bach
    • 1
  • Christopher R. Pryce
    • 2
  • Erich Seifritz
    • 3
  1. 1.Wellcome Trust Centre for NeuroimagingUniversity College London12 Queen SquareLondonUK
  2. 2.Preclinical Laboratory for Translational Research into Affective Disorders, Clinic for Affective Disorders and General PsychiatryPsychiatric University Hospital ZurichZurichSwitzerland
  3. 3.Clinic for Affective Disorders and General PsychiatryPsychiatric University Hospital ZurichZurichSwitzerland

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