The Institute of Neurobiology at the University of Puerto Rico's Medical Sciences Campus was awarded a $3.8 million U.S. National Science Foundation grant to conduct research on the rewards and decision mechanisms in the brain.
The project's goal is "to understand how the brain evaluates its environment and implements an action plan," Mark Miller, director of UPR's Neural Mechanisms of Reward and Decision Project, said.
"A better understanding of the decision-making process could lead us to improve strategies to solve problems in a more effective and appropriate manner," Miller said.
The project is being funded by NSF's Partnership in Research and Education program, which "recognizes that international alliances are essential to deal with critical problems in science and engineering," Miller said.
The Neural Mechanisms of Reward and Decision Project will link researchers from the UPR, Oklahoma State University, Canada, Egypt, Italy, Turkey and Chile.
The collaborative project is comprised of four interdisciplinary projects focused on the role that dopamine, a neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, both vertebrates and invertebrates, plays in the brain's decision-making and reward mechanisms.
"This knowledge will also provide us with information about certain behavioral and developmental disorders that affect the decision-making process," Miller said. EFE
Puerto Rico gets $3.8 mn grant for brain research
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