Much has been learned in recent years about the neurological basis of choice. Important objects with positive, attractive value for decision-makers are scientifically called rewards. Rewards evoke specific synaptic signals in specific brain structures, such as the frontal cortex, striatum, and the amygdala. While our understanding of reward signals is rapidly increasing, our knowledge of how this connects to actual behaviors in the field remains in its infancy. This imbalance between laboratory and field is precisely what the KHP promises to rectify. Current laboratory-based measurement techniques are simply inadequate for the task at hand. 
We do not know how environmental conditions and differences across individuals impact the tug-of-war between the pull of reward and our opposing self-control mechanisms. The Kavli HUMAN Project will be in prime position to assess and implement advances in neurological measurement technology on a real-time basis in the field. It will also be possible to study how and for whom planning activities, such as going shopping after a meal or in a supermarket with less attractive packaging, may help to counteract unwanted reward signals. In the case of balancing reward and self-control, the Kavli HUMAN Project will measure associated behaviors in the field and, in an interdisciplinary fashion, connect these observations as much as possible to the underlying neural architecture.