Distinct neural mechanisms of risk and ambiguity: A meta-analysis of decision-making
Section snippets
Methods
Research papers were found primarily by searching the PUBMED database (http://www.pubmed.org) using the keywords: neuroimaging, fMRI, PET, and brain cross-referenced with gambl* and decision making, where * indicates a wild-card. We then reviewed the reference lists of each of these articles to obtain additional papers. Only articles that reported activation foci as 3D coordinates (x, y, z) in stereotactic space were included. Studies of clinical populations were only used if coordinates were
Decision-making
Using the search criteria specified above, we identified 27 studies of decision-making, yielding a total of 287 foci. Consistent with current models of decision-making, our meta-analysis revealed a distributed network of structures exhibiting significantly elevated probabilities of activation (see Table 2). These regions included OFC, DLPFC, insular cortex and ACC in the frontal lobes, precuneus and bilateral superior parietal lobules in parietal cortex, thalamus, and caudate. These results
Discussion
Our findings suggest that the neural substrates of decision-making vary depending on the nature of the decision being made. Using recently developed meta-analytic techniques, we demonstrated dissociable patterns of neural activity in frontal and parietal cortices between decisions involving risk and those involving ambiguity.
The most notable distinction revealed by our analyses is the differential involvement of orbitofrontal and lateral frontal cortices in decision-making, with increases in
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression and the National Institute of Mental Health (K23MH074821).
The authors would like to thank Sara Hefton, Daniel Margulies, and Dr. Steven Dickstein for their assistance in the preparation of the manuscript.
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