| Budget Amount *help |
¥20,540,000 (Direct Cost: ¥15,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥4,740,000)
Fiscal Year 2010: ¥5,720,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,320,000)
Fiscal Year 2009: ¥5,460,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,260,000)
Fiscal Year 2008: ¥9,360,000 (Direct Cost: ¥7,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥2,160,000)
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| Research Abstract |
The aim of this study was to elucidate how the brain and body guide optimal decision making though their functional association in uncertain situations. We developed an experimental paradigm called "stochastic learning" where options which were stochastically related to monetary reward and punishment were presented to participants, and they maximized their reward though trials and errors. We examined brain and bodily responses during the task by measuring brain activity by positron emission tomography (PET) and activities of autonomic, endocrine, and immune systems. The main findings were as follows. (1) Bran regions including the prefrontal cortex and striatum were activated during the task and those brain regions regulated bodily responses. (2) Portions of individual differences of emotional responses accompanying reward and punishment were explained by polymorphisms of a serotonin transporter gene. (3) Autonomic activities were represented in the insula cortex. Such bodily representation in the brain could determine randomness of decision making. (4) These functional associations of brain and body accompanying decision making were blunted by chronic stress.
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