In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several alternative possibilities. Every decision-making process produces a final choice, which may or may not prompt action.
Decision-making is the process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values, preferences and beliefs of the decision-maker.
see Effective Decision-Making.
see Intraoperative decision-making.
Wang et al. recorded from deep brain stimulation subthalamic electrodes time-locked with acute stimulation using a Go/Nogo task to assess voluntary action and inaction. Beta oscillations during voluntary decision-making were temporally dissociated from motor function. Parkinson's patients showed an inaction bias with high beta and intermediate physiological states. Stimulation reversed the inaction bias highlighting its causal nature, and shifting physiology closer to reactive choices. Depression was associated with higher alpha during Voluntary-Nogo characterized by inaction or inertial status quo maintenance whereas apathy had higher beta-gamma during voluntary action or impaired effortful initiation of action. The findings suggest the human subthalamic nucleus causally contributes to voluntary decision-making, possibly through threshold gating or toggling mechanisms, with stimulation shifting towards voluntary action, and suggest biomarkers as potential clinical predictors 1)