scholarly journals Never mind losing the pound… still got the penny! The influence of trait greed on risky decision behavior in a mixed and gain only BART

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Rodrigues ◽  
Patrick Ruthenberg ◽  
Patrick Mussel ◽  
Johannes Hewig
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Personality Trait ◽  
Loss Aversion ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Risk Sensitivity ◽  
Risky Decision Making ◽  
Risky Decision ◽  
Decision Behavior ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Decision Making Behavior

Two different reasons to show risky behavior have been identified: Risk proneness and the lack of loss aversion. So far, the number of empirical studies investigating the influence of trait greed, anxiety, and age on risky decision behavior, differentiating between risk sensitivity and loss aversion, is very limited and inconsistent findings exist. The present study investigated this issue using variants of the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) in an online study. Risky decision-making behavior was then assessed by administering two versions of the BART, a gain only and a mixed gambling BART. A total of 54 male and 51 female subjects participated in the study. It could be shown that individuals with a high expression of the personality trait greed show an increased risky decision behavior due to an increased risk sensitivity and not due to a reduced loss aversion. This is partly in contrasts with previous findings in other tasks assessing risk sensitivity and loss aversion. These differences may be due to the changes of perception during the gain only task.No significant effect was found between the personality trait anxiety or age and risky decision-making behavior. This could be since no pathologically anxious subjects were used for the sample, or respectively due to an unbalanced distribution of age.

scholarly journals Sensitivity to gains during risky decision-making differentiates chronic cocaine users from stimulant-naïve controls

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Kluwe-Schiavon ◽  
A. Kexel ◽  
G. Manenti ◽  
D.M. Cole ◽  
M.R. Baumgartner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Neuropsychological Test ◽  
Risky Decision Making ◽  
Risky Decision ◽  
Cocaine Use ◽  
Risk Seeking ◽  
Chronic Cocaine ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Cocaine Users ◽  
The Individual

AbstractBackgroundAlthough chronic cocaine use has been frequently associated with decision-making impairments that are supposed to contribute to the development and maintenance of cocaine addiction, it has remained unclear how risk-seeking behaviours observed in chronic cocaine users (CU) come about. Here we therefore test whether risky decision-making observed in CU is driven by alterations in individual sensitivity to the available information (gain, loss, and risk).MethodA sample of 96 participants (56 CU and 40 controls) performed the no-feedback (“cold”) version of the Columbia Card Task. Structured psychiatric interviews and a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery were additionally conducted. Current and recent substance use was objectively assessed by toxicological urine and hair analysis.ResultsCompared to controls, CU showed increased risk-seeking in unfavourable decision scenarios in which the risk was high and the returns were low, and a tendency for increased risk aversion in favourable decision scenarios. These differences arose from the fact that CU were less sensitive to gain, but similarly sensitive to loss and risk information in comparison to controls. Further analysis revealed that individual differences in sensitivity to loss and risk were related to cognitive performance and impulsivity.ConclusionThe reduced sensitivity to gain information in people with CU may contribute to their propensity for making risky decisions. While these alterations in the sensitivity to gain might be directly related to cocaine use per se, the individual psychopathological profile of CU might moderate their sensitivity to risk and loss impulsivity.

Agreeableness modulates group member risky decision-making behavior and brain activity

NeuroImage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 202 ◽  
pp. 116100
Author(s):  
Fang Wang ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Fenghua Wang ◽  
Li Gao ◽  
Hengyi Rao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Risky Decision Making ◽  
Risky Decision ◽  
Decision Making Behavior ◽  
Group Member

scholarly journals Risky decision-making following prefrontal D1 receptor manipulation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 432-443
Author(s):  
Dominik K. E. Beyer ◽  
Lisa Horn ◽  
Nadine Klinker ◽  
Nadja Freund
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Iowa Gambling Task ◽  
D1 Receptor ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
Risky Decision Making ◽  
Risky Decision ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
The Right

Abstract The prefrontal dopamine D1 receptor (D1R) is involved in cognitive processes. Viral overexpression of this receptor in rats further increases the reward-related behaviors and even its termination induces anhedonia and helplessness. In this study, we investigated the risky decision-making during D1R overexpression and its termination. Rats conducted the rodent version of the Iowa gambling task daily. In addition, the methyl CpG–binding protein-2 (MeCP2), one regulator connecting the dopaminergic system, cognitive processes, and mood-related behavior, was investigated after completion of the behavioral tasks. D1R overexpressing subjects exhibited maladaptive risky decision-making and risky decisions returned to control levels following termination of D1R overexpression; however, after termination, animals earned less reward compared to control subjects. In this phase, MeCP2-positive cells were elevated in the right amygdala. Our results extend the previously reported behavioral changes in the D1R-manipulated animal model to increased risk-taking and revealed differential MeCP2 expression adding further evidence for a bipolar disorder-like phenotype of this model.

Cortisol boosts risky decision-making behavior in men but not in women

2017 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 181-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Marieke Kluen ◽  
Agorastos Agorastos ◽  
Klaus Wiedemann ◽  
Lars Schwabe
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Risky Decision Making ◽  
Risky Decision ◽  
Decision Making Behavior

scholarly journals Endogenous fluctuations in the dopaminergic midbrain drive behavioral choice variability

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (37) ◽  
pp. 18732-18737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Chew ◽  
Tobias U. Hauser ◽  
Marina Papoutsi ◽  
Joerg Magerkurth ◽  
Raymond J. Dolan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Risky Choice ◽  
Blood Oxygenation ◽  
Risky Decision Making ◽  
Risky Decision ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Endogenous Fluctuations ◽  
Increased Risk

Human behavior is surprisingly variable, even when facing the same problem under identical circumstances. A prominent example is risky decision making. Economic theories struggle to explain why humans are so inconsistent. Resting-state studies suggest that ongoing endogenous fluctuations in brain activity can influence low-level perceptual and motor processes, but it remains unknown whether endogenous fluctuations also influence high-level cognitive processes including decision making. Here, using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging, we tested whether risky decision making is influenced by endogenous fluctuations in blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) activity in the dopaminergic midbrain, encompassing ventral tegmental area and substantia nigra. We show that low prestimulus brain activity leads to increased risky choice in humans. Using computational modeling, we show that increased risk taking is explained by enhanced phasic responses to offers in a decision network. Our findings demonstrate that endogenous brain activity provides a physiological basis for variability in complex human behavior.

scholarly journals Neural processes in antecedent anxiety modulate risk-taking behavior

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Nash ◽  
Josh Leota ◽  
Alex Tran
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Real World ◽  
Anterior Insula ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Risky Decision Making ◽  
Risky Decision ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Economic Anxiety

AbstractThough real-world decisions are often made in the shadow of economic uncertainties, work problems, relationship troubles, existential angst, etc., the neural processes involved in this common experience remain poorly understood. Here, we randomly assigned participants (N = 97) to either a poignant experience of forecasted economic anxiety or a no-anxiety control condition. Using electroencephalography (EEG), we then examined how source-localized, anxiety-specific neural activation modulated risky decision making and strategic behavior in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). Previous research demonstrates opposing effects of anxiety on risk-taking, leading to contrasting predictions. On the one hand, activity in the dorsomedial PFC/anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and anterior insula, brain regions linked with anxiety and sensitivity to risk, should mediate the effect of economic anxiety on increased risk-averse decision-making. On the other hand, activation in the ventromedial PFC, a brain region important in emotion regulation and subjective valuation in decision-making, should mediate the effect of economic anxiety on increased risky decision-making. Results revealed evidence related to both predictions. Additionally, anxiety-specific activation in the dmPFC/ACC and the anterior insula were associated with disrupted learning across the task. These results shed light on the neurobiology of antecedent anxiety and risk-taking and provide potential insight into understanding how real-world anxieties can impact decision-making processes.

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