TY - JOUR
T1 - Variables influencing the neural correlates of perceived risk of physical harm
AU - Coaster, Mariam
AU - Rogers, Baxter P.
AU - Jones, Owen D.
AU - Viscusi, W. Kip
AU - Merkle, Kristen L.
AU - Zald, David H.
AU - Gore, John C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This material is based on work supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (under Award 07-892-49-000-HCD), the Regents of the University of California, and Vanderbilt University. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Regents of the University of California, or Vanderbilt University. We thank the following individuals who have been involved in various aspects of the successful completion of this study: René Marois for suggesting ideas on fMRI design, Whit Schrader for the initial fMRI analysis, Donna Butler and Robin Avison for assisting as MRI technologists during fMRI data collection, Michael Treadway for assisting with the creation of correlation plots with personality measures, Andrew Yi for analyzing all of the behavioral data, and Mary Dietrich for assistance with using the statistics software tools.
PY - 2011/12
Y1 - 2011/12
N2 - Many human activities involve a risk of physical harm. However, not much is known about the specific brain regions involved in decision making regarding these risks. To explore the neural correlates of risk perception for physical harms, 19 participants took part in an event-related fMRI study while rating risky activities. The scenarios varied in level of potential harm (e.g., paralysis vs. stubbed toe), likelihood of injury (e.g., 1 chance in 100 vs. 1 chance in 1,000), and format (frequency vs. probability). Networks of brain regions were responsive to different aspects of risk information. Cortical language-processing areas, the middle temporal gyrus, and a region around the bed nucleus of stria terminalis responded more strongly to high-harm conditions. Prefrontal areas, along with subcortical ventral striatum, responded preferentially to highlikelihood conditions. Participants rated identical risks to be greater when information was presented in frequency format rather than probability format. These findings indicate that risk assessments for physical harm engage a broad network of brain regions that are sensitive to the severity of harm, the likelihood of risk, and the framing of risk information.
AB - Many human activities involve a risk of physical harm. However, not much is known about the specific brain regions involved in decision making regarding these risks. To explore the neural correlates of risk perception for physical harms, 19 participants took part in an event-related fMRI study while rating risky activities. The scenarios varied in level of potential harm (e.g., paralysis vs. stubbed toe), likelihood of injury (e.g., 1 chance in 100 vs. 1 chance in 1,000), and format (frequency vs. probability). Networks of brain regions were responsive to different aspects of risk information. Cortical language-processing areas, the middle temporal gyrus, and a region around the bed nucleus of stria terminalis responded more strongly to high-harm conditions. Prefrontal areas, along with subcortical ventral striatum, responded preferentially to highlikelihood conditions. Participants rated identical risks to be greater when information was presented in frequency format rather than probability format. These findings indicate that risk assessments for physical harm engage a broad network of brain regions that are sensitive to the severity of harm, the likelihood of risk, and the framing of risk information.
KW - Decision-making
KW - Risk prefrontal cortex
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U2 - 10.3758/s13415-011-0047-9
DO - 10.3758/s13415-011-0047-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 21671045
AN - SCOPUS:84856238068
SN - 1530-7026
VL - 11
SP - 494
EP - 507
JO - Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience
JF - Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience
IS - 4
ER -