SCIENTIFIC BACKGROUND

At the beginning of ’90s, the US Administration started a major research project called “Human Brain Mapping” with the goal of establishing the causes of behavioral and emotional issues and finding concrete solutions. For the first time, the approach was focused on analyzing brain mechanisms directly responsible of context processing and triggering cognitive, emotional or behavioral reactions.

Thus, a new scientific stream known as Behavioural Neurosciences developed, with the objective of studying the biological mechanisms which determine human behaviour.

For more than 17 years, neuroscience specialists have scanned the brain activity (using neuroimagistic techniques such as PET and fMRI) of people engaged in various mental activities. As a result, they obtained the map of those brain areas directly involved in mental activities, or processes, such us: perception, attention, memory, language, affectivity and motivation, leading to a Map of Brain Processes.

Prestigious Universities and Research Institutes (Stanford University, Sackler Institute, Cornell University, Harvard Medical School, etc.) have succeeded in highlighting the link between certain neuronal networks and specific behaviours. Subsequently, based upon those conclusions, they developed specific exercises to assess the functioning of different neuronal networks.

These neural networks determine our adaptability to the environment by developing learning mechanisms and support complex processes such as decision making, problem solving, relationship management, managing uncertainty and so on. The functioning of these neural networks determines the differences in terms of individual behaviours and, at the same time, pinpoint the right triggers for future development.

Behavioural Neurosciences have now concrete applications in various fields:
▪ Management and Human Resources – it provides an objective basis for management decisions through objective skills assessment and competencies development
▪ Neuromarketing – it provides valuable data in order to build efficient marketing programs by understand consumers’ behaviors and how their brains deal with marketing stimuli;
▪ Political marketing – it allows investigating and explaining unconscious beliefs and preferences of voters, especially undecided ones.
▪ Health and medical science – individual functions’ diagnosis, treatment of various mental disorders and practical applications in brain related diseases.
▪ Neuroeconomics – it provides valuable data for understanding and analyzing financial risk models and decisions.