The Deep Dive: A Podcast About Everything

S3E6 - Neuroeconomics of Valuation

In this episode of The Deep Dive the host explores neuroeconomics through vivid case studies—last‑second online auction sniping versus face‑to‑face haggling—tracing how brain systems compute subjective value in real time.Topics include the VMPFC as a neural common currency, dopamine reward‑prediction errors and reinforcement learning (Wolfram Schultz), range adaptation and reference dependence in OFC, prospect‑theory‑style risk and probability weighting (including work by Levy & Glimcher, Clithero & Rangel, Imazumi et al.), and accumulation‑to‑bound decision models that translate value into action.Key takeaways: value is dynamic and context‑dependent, loss aversion and social cues shape choices, and a practical personal “value sketch” exercise helps listeners spot their own biases and make better decisions.

S3E7 - Serotonin, Dopamine, & Rational Control

In this episode of Deep Dive we unpack how two neuromodulators — dopamine and serotonin — tune your confidence, patience, impulsivity, and overall rationality. Through a clinical vignette of a software engineer on an SSRI, interviews with expert researchers, and a tour of circuit neuroscience and computational (Bayesian) models, we show why calming anxiety can sometimes blunt motivation and decisiveness.Topics covered include reward prediction errors, model-free learning, behavioral inhibition, circuit-specific serotonin pathways, clinical implications (Parkinson’s, SSRI effects), and key studies by leading labs. Expert commentary and research citations illuminate how these chemicals adjust the brain’s precision weighting and influence moral and risk decisions.Key takeaways: dopamine energizes action and tunes reward confidence, serotonin promotes caution and harm aversion, their dynamic balance underlies rational choice, and you can use a practical “precision diary” to track mood, decisions, and levers (sleep, diet, exercise, medication) to better calibrate your decision-making.