Neural basis of risky decision making

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K16570
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Basic / Social brain science
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Hironori Ishii 東北大学, 生命科学研究科, 助教 (30636676)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 意思決定 / リスク / 島皮質 / 前頭眼窩野

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We never win races if we always avoid risks. However, excessive risk taking could also lead to ruin. How does the brain make decisions? To investigate the role of the anterior insular cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex in risky decision making, here we recorded the neural activities in these two regions of the rat during the performance of gambling task. We found that the activities at the timing of decision were quite different between when the rats won the gamble in the previous trial and when they lose. The result indicates a possibility that these two regions recall past experience for the current decision.

Free Research Field

神経科学