Wolfram Schultz
Wolfram Schultz
Wolfram Schultz graduated in medicine from the University of Heidelberg and obtained his PhD in Physiology from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He is currently Professor of Neuroscience in the Department of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, UK
Wolfram Schultz’s lab combines behavioural, neurophysiological and neuroimaging techniques to investigate the neural mechanisms of learning, goal-directed behaviour and economic decision making. He uses behavioural concepts from animal learning theory and economic decision theories to study the neurophysiology and neuroimaging of reward and risk in individual neurons and in specific brain regions, including the dopamine system, striatum, orbitofrontal cortex, and amygdala. His group is interested in identifying brain signals for reward and economic decisions. As information processing systems work with explicit signals, his lab first detects and characterises such signals before investigating more detailed neuronal mechanisms. They investigate fundamental reward and decision variables, including reward prediction errors, subjective reward value, utility, probability, risk, and object-action-chosen value. They then search for their signals in various brain structures, including dopamine neurons, striatum, frontal cortex, and amygdala. His lab uses concepts from animal learning theory and economic decision theory and combine behavioural, neurophysiological and neuroimaging (fMRI) methods.
The Brain Prize 2017 is also awarded to:
