Neural computations underlying social risk sensitivity

Under standard models of expected utility, preferences over stochastic events are assumed to be independent of the source of uncertainty. Thus, in decision-making, an agent should exhibit consistent preferences, regardless of whether the uncertainty derives from the unpredictability of a random process or the unpredictability of a social partner. However, when a social partner is the source of uncertainty, social preferences can influence decisions over and above pure risk attitudes (RA). Here, we compared risk-related hemodynamic activity and individual preferences for two sets of options that differ only in the social or non-social nature of the risk. Risk preferences in social and non-social contexts were systematically related to neural activity during decision and outcome phases of each choice. Individuals who were more risk averse in the social context exhibited decreased risk-related activity in the amygdala during non-social decisions, while individuals who were more risk averse in the non-social context exhibited the opposite pattern. Differential risk preferences were similarly associated with hemodynamic activity in ventral striatum at the outcome of these decisions. These findings suggest that social preferences, including aversion to betrayal or exploitation by social partners, may be associated with variability in the response of these subcortical regions to social risk

Bayesian Model of Behaviour in Economic Games

Classical game theoretic approaches that make strong rationality assumptions have difficulty modeling human behaviour in economic games. We investigate the role of finite levels of iterated reasoning and non-selfish utility functions in a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process model that incorporates game theoretic notions of interactivity. Our generative model captures a broad class of characteristic behaviours in a multi-round Investor-Trustee game. We invert the generative process for a recognition model that is used to classify 200 subjects playing this game against randomly matched opponents

A 4-Year Longitudinal Neuroimaging Study of Cognitive Control Using Latent Growth Modeling: Developmental Changes and Brain-Behavior Associations

Despite theoretical models suggesting developmental changes in neural substrates of cognitive control in adolescence, empirical research has rarely examined intraindividual changes in cognitive control-related brain activation using multi-wave multivariate longitudinal data. We used longitudinal repeated measures of brain activation and behavioral performance during the multi-source interference task (MSIT) from 167 adolescents (53% male) who were assessed annually over four years from ages 13 to 17 years. We applied latent growth modeling to delineate the pattern of brain activation changes over time and to examine longitudinal associations between brain activation and behavioral performance. We identified brain regions that showed differential change patterns: (1) the fronto-parietal regions that involved bilateral insula, bilateral middle frontal gyrus, left pre-supplementary motor area, left inferior parietal lobule, and right precuneus; and (2) the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) region. Longitudinal confirmatory factor analyses of the fronto-parietal regions revealed strong measurement invariance across time implying that multivariate functional magnetic resonance imaging data during cognitive control can be measured reliably over time. Latent basis growth models indicated that fronto-parietal activation decreased over time, whereas rACC activation increased over time. In addition, behavioral performance data, age-related improvement was indicated by a decreasing trajectory of intraindividual variability in response time across four years. Testing longitudinal brain-behavior associations using multivariate growth models revealed that better behavioral cognitive control was associated with lower fronto-parietal activation, but the change in behavioral performance was not related to the change in brain activation. The current findings suggest that reduced effects of cognitive interference indicated by fronto-parietal recruitment may be a marker of a maturing brain that underlies better cognitive control performance during adolescence

Large Solar Angle and Seesaw Mechanism: a Bottom-up Perspective

In addition to the well established large atmospheric angle, a large solar angle is probably present in the leptonic sector. In the context of the see-saw and by means of a bottom-up approach, we explore which patterns for the Dirac and Majorana right-handed mass matrices provide two large mixings in a robust way and with the minimal amount of tuning. Three favourite patterns emerge, which have a suggestive physical interpretation in terms of the role played by right-handed neutrinos: in both solar and atmospheric sectors, either a single or a pseudo-Dirac pair of right-handed neutrinos dominates. Each pattern gives rise to specific relations among the neutrino mixing angles and mass differences, which lead to testable constraints on U_{e3}. The connection with the rate of LFV charged lepton decays is also addressed.Comment: 31 pages, 7 figures; published versio

Symmetries and fermion masses

We discuss whether quark, charged lepton and neutrino masses and mixing angles may be related by an extended flavour and family symmetry group. We show that current measurements of all fermion masses and mixing angles are consistent with a combination of an underlying SU(3) family symmetry together with a GUT symmetry such as SO(10). In this the near bi-maximal mixing observed in the neutrino sector is directly related to the small mixing observed in the quark sector, the difference between quark and lepton mixing angles being due to the see-saw mechanism. Using this connection we make a detailed prediction for the lepton mixing angles determining neutrino oscillation phenomena.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure. To be submitted to Nucl. Phys.

Seesaw and Lepton Flavour Violation in SUSY SO(10)

That $\mu \to e, \gamma$ and $\tau \to \mu,\gamma$ are sensitive probes of SUSY models with a see-saw mechanism is a well accepted fact. Here we propose a `top-down' approach in a general SUSY SO(10) scheme. In this framework, we show that at least one of the neutrino Yukawa couplings is as large as the top Yukawa coupling. This leads to a strong enhancement of these leptonic flavour changing decay rates. We examine two `extreme' cases, where the lepton mixing angles in the neutrino Yukawa couplings are either small (CKM-like) or large (PMNS-like). In these two cases, we quantify the sensitivity of leptonic radiative decays to the SUSY mass spectrum. In the PMNS case, we find that the ongoing experiments at the B-factories can completely probe the spectrum up to gaugino masses of 500 GeV (any tan $\beta$). Even in the case of CKM-like mixings, large regions of the parameter space will be probed in the near future, making these two processes leading candidates for indirect SUSY searches.Comment: 22 pages with 2 figures. Figures for \tau -> \mu \gamma decay corrected after typo found in the program. Decay \mu -> e gamma completely unchanged and conclusions basicaly unchange

The mediating role of attachment and mentalising in the relationship between childhood maltreatment, self-harm and suicidality

Background Although the relationship between childhood maltreatment, self-harm and suicidality is well-established, less is known about the mediating mechanisms explaining it. Based on a developmental mentalisation-based theoretical framework, childhood adversity compromises mentalising ability and attachment security, which in turn increase vulnerability to later stressors in adulthood. Objective This study aimed to investigate the role of attachment and mentalising as potential mechanisms in the relationship between childhood maltreatment, self-harm and suicidality. Participants and setting We recruited 907 adults from clinical and community settings in Greater London. Methods The study design was cross-sectional. Participants completed self-report questionnaires on retrospectively rated childhood trauma, and current attachment to the romantic partner, mentalising, self-harm, suicidal ideation and attempt. We used structural equation modelling to examine the data and conceptualized childhood maltreatment as a general factor in a confirmatory bifactor model. Results The results showed that childhood maltreatment was both directly associated with self-harm and suicidality and indirectly via the pathways of attachment and mentalising. Conclusions These findings indicate that insecure attachment and impaired mentalising partially explain the association between childhood maltreatment, self-harm and suicidality. Clinically, they provide support for the potential of mentalisation-based therapy or other psychosocial interventions that aim to mitigate the risk of self-harm and suicidality among individuals who have experienced childhood maltreatment via increasing understanding of self and other mental states

SUSY GUT Models of Neutrino Mass and mu to e gamma

It is explained why excessive mu to e gamma can be a problem in SUSY GUT see-saw models of neutrino mass, and ways that this problem might be avoided are discussed.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX, references adde

SUSY Seesaw and FCNC

After a quarter of century of intense search for new physics beyond the Standard Model (SM), two ideas stand out to naturally cope with (i) small neutrino masses and (ii) a light higgs boson : Seesaw and SUSY. The combination of these two ideas, i.e. SUSY seesaw exhibits a potentially striking signature: a strong (or even very strong) enhancement of lepton flavour violation (LFV), which on the contrary remains unobservable in the SM seesaw. Indeed, even when supersymmetry breaking is completely flavour blind, Renormalisation Group running effects are expected to generate large lepton flavour violating entries at the weak scale. In Grand Unified theories, these effects can be felt even in hadronic physics. We explicitly show that in a class of SUSY SO(10) GUTs there exist cases where LFV and CP violation in B-physics can constitute a major road in simultaneously confirming the ideas of Seesaw and low-energy SUSY.Comment: Invited Talk at Seesaw (1979-2004), Fujihara Seminar, Neutrino mass and Seesaw mechanism, Feb 23-25, 2004, KEK, Japan. To appear in the proceedings. 13 pages and four figure