Ideas for Neurocomputational Social Science

Currently, many methods for data analysis in the social sciences resort to applied statistics and even simpler extrapolation techniques. While such a toolbox provides a satisfactory base for conclusions and predictions, this state of affairs is hardly inspiring. Here, a knowledge transfer is advocated, whereby achievements of mathematical and computational neuroscience can be used as a tool to study phenomena of socioeconomic nature. The foundations for such a cross-breeding comprise a mechanism shared by the functioning of the brain, and certain aspects of the operation of social networks. Two rudimentary modelling examples illustrate the point.