Dr. Alexander Soutschek

Research topics: neural basis of decision making and motivation, metacognition, mental effort

Dr. Alexander Soutschek works on the neural and cognitive foundations of value-based decisions at the intersection of motivation and cognition, with a particular focus on impulse control, metacognition, and mental effort. To this ends, he employs a variety of neuroscientific methods, including neuroimaging, brain stimulation, psychopharmacology, and computational modelling of human behavior.

5 Key publications:

• Soutschek, A., Sahin, T., & Tobler, P.N. (2024). Tipping the balance between fairness and efficiency through temporoparietal stimulation. PNAS, 121(42), e2409395121.
• Soutschek, A., Jetter, A., & Tobler, P.N. (2023). Towards a Unifying Account of Dopamine’s Role in Cost-Benefit Decision Making. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, 3(2), 179-186.
• Soutschek, A., Moisa, M., Ruff, C.C., & Tobler, P.N. (2021). Frontopolar theta oscillations link metacognition with prospective decision making. Nature Communications, 12(1), 3943.
• Soutschek, A. Kang, P., Ruff, C.C., Hare, T.A., & Tobler, P.N. (2018). Brain stimulation over frontopolar cortex enhances motivation to exert effort for reward. Biological Psychiatry, 84(1), 38-45.
• Soutschek, A., Ruff, C.C., Strombach, T., Kalenscher, T., Tobler, P.N. (2016). Brain stimulation reveals crucial role of overcoming self-centeredness in self-control. Science Advances, 2(10): e1600992.

Publikationsliste