Your brain may not actually “make” decisions
Professor Tom James challenges the traditional 'sandwich model' of decision-making, which views the brain as a linear processor of sensation, cognition, and action. Instead, he proposes that behavior emerges from simultaneous, interactive processes between the brain, body, and environment.
Why it matters
This shift in perspective could fundamentally change how neuroscientists model brain function and develop artificial intelligence systems that mimic human behavior.
What we experience when making a decision may be very different from what actually happens inside the brain, according to Indiana University Professor Tom James.
For decades, both scientific theories and everyday intuition have tended to describe decision-making as a sequence. First we perceive something, then we think about it and make a choice, and finally we act. Each step is often assumed to correspond to a distinct brain function, moving from sensory processing to cognition and then to motor activity.
Many scientific approaches, particularly model-based cognitive neuroscience, are built around this same linear framework. It also matches how decision making feels from the inside. As James notes, "Our actions feel like they are caused by decisions based on desires, beliefs, and intentions."
Rethinking the Brain's Decision Making Process
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