Decision-making is a core aspect of human behaviors and the ability to make good choices is necessary for personal health and happiness as well as the efficient functioning of society as a whole. The goal is to understand the neural mechanisms of decision-making in healthy, typical populations as well as how these processes become dysfunctional in specific behavioral disorders and pathophysiologies.

Professor Hare's previous research has examined the neural networks that mediate decision-making for various reward types (primary, monetary, social). He and his team have shown that while key areas of the decision network are recruited across choice domains, the regions with which they interact differ between decision contexts. Furthermore, they have demonstrated differences in the neural networks that mediate choice in individuals who successfully employ self-control compared to those with self-control failures.