Emotional Brain Centers Help Cope With Uncertainty

Emotional processing areas of the brain spring into action when a person faces a decision laced with uncertainty, a team of neuroscientists and economists has discovered.

This new information, reported in Science, about the "hardwiring" of decisions made in the face of missing information "is important because it is a fundamental activity at every societal level, from people saving for retirement, to companies pricing insurance, to countries evaluating military, social and environmental risks" such as preparing for climate change or a terrorist attack, say Ming Hsu and colleagues.

Research shows that people are more comfortable with decisions where the risks are known, compared to ambiguous choices where risks are uncertain due to missing information. Hsu and colleagues presented these "risk versus uncertainty" decisions to people in the form of a gambling game. Using imaging techniques to watch the brain in action during these choices, the researchers found that the amygdala and the orbitofrontal cortex, both emotion-processing areas, become more active when presented with an ambiguous decision.

Patients who had lesions in the orbitalfrontal cortex did not show the normal preference for risky rather than ambiguous decisions, further suggesting the region's important role in coping with uncertain choices. A related "Perspective" article further discusses these findings.

8 December 2005