When making a choice, the brain sifts and retrieves specific traces of memories, rather than a generalized overview of past experiences, new research reveals. The study combined computer simulations with brain-imaging data to compare two different types of decision-making models. Perhaps resolving a debate more than three decades old, the findings demonstrate that the exemplar model accounted for the majority of participants’ decisions, in which choices were framed around concrete traces of memories. “We flexibly memorize our experiences, and this allows us to use these memories for different kinds of decisions,” lead researcher Michael Mack explains. Click here to read the full article.