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In this book, financial journalist and Money magazine senior writer Jason Zweig, an intelligent observer of social science and neuroscience research, takes the reader on a tour of several complex research literatures, from behavioral decision research and behavioral economics, to cognitive and social neuroscience. The author participated in several of the brain imaging studies described in the book for an "inside" view, and 3D-images of Jason's brain in different states of activation show the reader where different brain functions are localized. The book presents an accessible and entertaining introduction for nonspecialists to the new field of neuroeconomics, a research enterprise at the intersection of economics, psychology, and neuroscience.
The title signals what the book is about: investment decisions ("your money") and neuroscience ("your brain"). Chapter 1 motivates readers looking for investment advice to take the ride through the brave new world of neuroeconomics. Chapter 2 ("Thinking" and "Feeling") introduces the central theme of the book: 40+ years of behavioral research, supported by 10+ years of neuroscience studies, have made it clear that our judgments and decisions (including investment decisions) are very often not the product of rational/analytic processes, but are (instead or also) driven by feelings and impulses. The neural circuits that produce these quick, automatic, and compelling emotional reactions that guide (and sometimes highjack) our behavior reside in brain regions deep inside our head. We share these regions and circuits with many other animals further down the phylogenetic scale, and they are sometimes referred to as our "reptilian brain." Zweig uses the label "reflexive brain" instead, to contrast it with the "reflective brain," the evolutionarily much younger cortical regions that mediate executive functions including self control, conscious processing...