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The Journal of Neuroscience, October 7, 2009, 29(40):12574-12583; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2614-09.2009

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Neural Correlates of Value, Risk, and Risk Aversion Contributing to Decision Making under Risk

George I. Christopoulos,1 Philippe N. Tobler,1 Peter Bossaerts,2 Raymond J. Dolan,3 and Wolfram Schultz1

1Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DY, United Kingdom, 2Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Odyssea), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland, and 3Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, London WC1 3BG, United Kingdom

Correspondence should be addressed to George I. Christopoulos, Laboratory for Interpersonal Decision Neuroscience, Computational Psychiatry Unit, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, T115, MS:BCM295, Houston, TX 77030. Email: georgec{at}cpu.bcm.edu

Decision making under risk is central to human behavior. Economic decision theory suggests that value, risk, and risk aversion influence choice behavior. Although previous studies identified neural correlates of decision parameters, the contribution of these correlates to actual choices is unknown. In two different experiments, participants chose between risky and safe options. We identified discrete blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) correlates of value and risk in the ventral striatum and anterior cingulate, respectively. Notably, increasing inferior frontal gyrus activity to low risk and safe options correlated with higher risk aversion. Importantly, the combination of these BOLD responses effectively decoded the behavioral choice. Striatal value and cingulate risk responses increased the probability of a risky choice, whereas inferior frontal gyrus responses showed the inverse relationship. These findings suggest that the BOLD correlates of decision factors are appropriate for an ideal observer to detect behavioral choices. More generally, these biological data contribute to the validity of the theoretical decision parameters for actual decisions under risk.

Received June 4, 2009; revised July 21, 2009; accepted Aug. 18, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to George I. Christopoulos, Laboratory for Interpersonal Decision Neuroscience, Computational Psychiatry Unit, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, T115, MS:BCM295, Houston, TX 77030. Email: georgec{at}cpu.bcm.edu






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