Brain research maps risk and caution in decision-making
Recordings from the human orbitofrontal cortex show opposing signals before a decision.
Researchers have examined how people choose between taking a risk and making a safe choice. The study, published in Nature Neuroscience, points to opposing activity in two parts of the orbitofrontal cortex.
The researchers analysed intracranial brain recordings from patients whose electrodes had been implanted for medical reasons. The participants played a simple game involving treasure chests and bombs, in which they had to choose between approaching and avoiding.
Just before the choice, the researchers observed different patterns on the medial and lateral sides of the orbitofrontal cortex. The medial region showed more activity during approach, while the lateral region was more strongly associated with avoidance.
The signals did not merely reflect the value of the potential reward. Even after the researchers had statistically accounted for differences in value, patterns associated with the eventual choice remained.
Using a decoding model, the researchers were able to predict from brain activity whether someone would make an approach or avoidance choice. The prediction was, on average, above chance level, but was not perfect.
The study does not describe a universal switch for decision-making. The research involved a specific task, a small group of clinical participants and activity in a limited part of the brain. The authors present their findings as evidence of competition between neural states.
The results mainly help refine models of decision-making. They do not show that individual choices lie beyond people's control and do not constitute a method for reliably inferring the behaviour of individual people from brain signals.
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The study was checked directly against the publication and PubMed. The text explicitly keeps the limitations of the research group and the task in view.
- confirmed The study used intracranial brain recordings from people. — Described in the title, methods and abstract of the peer-reviewed publication. source
- confirmed Medial and lateral parts of the orbitofrontal cortex showed opposing signals during approach and avoidance choices. — The study's main finding. source
- confirmed The study was published in Nature Neuroscience. — The publication details appear in PubMed and on the journal's website. source
Editor's note
This concerns peer-reviewed research published online in Nature Neuroscience. The study is small-scale and experimental; its findings cannot be directly translated to everyday behaviour.Sources
- Intracranial recordings in humans reveal differential contributions of medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex to approach–avoidance decision-making — Nature Neuroscience
- Intracranial recordings in humans reveal differential contributions of medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex to approach–avoidance decision-making — PubMed
- Take a risk or play it safe? Neuronal tug-of-war helps the brain decide — Nature
More on this in Dutch media
- de Volkskrant — „hersenen besluitvorming”
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- NOS — „hersenen besluitvorming”