Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
A, Gambling task. Participants were asked to accept or reject mixed gambles offering equal (50%) chances of gaining or losing different amounts of money, with possible gains and losses sampled from a wide and symmetrical pay-off matrix (range: 1–99) and uncorrelated with each other. B, Behavioral results. Color-coded heatmap depicting the probability of accepting the gamble (white, high; green, low) at different levels of gain/loss magnitude. The color within each circle codes the proportion of participants having accepted the gamble.
- Figure 2.
Neural anticipation of gains. A, The brain regions that were specifically activated by prospective gains (red), those displaying a bidirectional response (activation for gains, deactivation for losses; blue), and those displaying a bidirectional response tuned to behavioral loss aversion (green) (p < 0.05 corrected). B, Scatterplots showing the significant correlation between behavioral loss aversion (x-axis) and neural loss aversion (y-axis) in the posterior frontomedial cortex (left) and ventral striatum (right). C, Scatterplots showing the loss-aversion tuning of the negative component (deactivation for losses) of the bidirectional response in the same two regions (light-blue colors, activation for gains; yellow colors, deactivation for losses). Both parameter estimates of neural activity and behavioral loss aversion are represented as z-values in the scatterplots.
- Figure 3.
Neural anticipation of losses. A, The brain regions that were specifically activated by prospective losses (red), those displaying a bidirectional response (activation for losses, deactivation for gains; blue), and those displaying a bidirectional response tuned to behavioral loss aversion (green) (p < 0.05 corrected). B, Scatterplots showing the significant correlation between behavioral loss aversion (x-axis) and neural loss aversion (y-axis) in the right posterior insula and parietal operculum. C, Scatterplots showing the loss-aversion tuning of the positive component (activation for losses) of the bidirectional response in the same region (yellow colors, activation for losses; light-blue colors, deactivation for gains). Both parameter estimates of neural activity and behavioral loss aversion are represented as z-values in the scatterplots.
- Figure 4.
A, Neural loss aversion. The brain regions in which loss aversion was positively related with neural activity underlying the anticipation of losses (compared with gains; yellow) and gains (compared with losses; blue) (p < 0.05 corrected). B, Acceptance versus rejection. The brain regions associated with acceptance, compared with rejection, of the mixed-gamble (while controlling for the anticipation of outcomes) are shown in red, along with those displaying a bidirectional response (activation for gains, deactivation for losses; blue) and those displaying a bidirectional response tuned to behavioral loss aversion (green) (p < 0.05 corrected). C, Neurostructural correlates of loss aversion. The loss-aversion structural network highlighted by SBM (blue), as well as the voxels where GM volume was positively related with loss aversion highlighted by VBM (red) (p < 0.05 corrected). Violet and yellow colors highlight the brain structures that were associated with loss aversion in both SBM and VBM analyses (left amygdala and thalamus; violet), as well as in both SBM and fMRI neural loss-aversion analyses (right amygdala; yellow).
Tables
Cluster size (number of voxels) Hemisphere Anatomical region MNI T score Cluster p value x y z Anticipation of gains 301 R Putamen 18 8 −6 3.75 0.02 R Caudate nucleus 18 18 2 3.28 R Pallidum 22 −6 −6 4.93 1204 L Middle frontal gyrus −28 36 18 4.16 <0.001 L Superior frontal gyrus, orbital part −18 54 −4 3.76 L Middle frontal gyrus, orbital part −30 46 −8 3.62 362 R Superior frontal gyrus, orbital part 18 52 −12 4.61 0.01 R Middle frontal gyrus, orbital part 30 44 −10 3.01 434 R Superior frontal gyrus 22 50 24 3.38 0.006 1026 L Posterior cingulate cortex −6 −42 18 4.51 <0.001 R Posterior cingulate cortex 6 −42 8 3.90 1238 R Cuneus 18 −58 38 3.97 <0.001 R Precuneus 16 −60 36 3.90 404 R Thalamus (temporal) 6 −6 4 4.37 0.007 L Thalamus (prefrontal) −12 −10 −2 3.44 Bidirectional response: activation for gains, deactivation for losses, correlation with loss aversion 265 L Putamen/caudate nucleus* −16 18 −2 4.30 <0.001 L Putamen −18 10 4 4.05 L Caudate nucleus −14 14 10 4.01 L Putamen −24 8 −4 4.00 L Insula lobe −28 20 6 3.79 L Putamen −22 18 0 3.59 269 L Middle cingulate cortex* −4 28 32 4.44 <0.001 L SMA −4 16 46 4.09 L Superior medial gyrus −2 28 38 3.85 R Superior medial gyrus 10 24 42 3.82 R Middle cingulate cortex 4 26 32 3.66 L Superior frontal gyrus −12 28 38 3.57 L Anterior cingulate cortex −6 32 26 3.51 Asterisks indicate the regions whose bidirectional response is depicted in Figure 2.
Cluster size (number of voxels) Hemisphere Anatomical region MNI T score Cluster p value x y z Bidirectional response: activation for losses, deactivation for gains, correlation with loss aversion 175 R Rolandic operculum/Insula (OP1)* 58 −20 16 4.98 <0.001 R Supramarginal gyrus (OP1) 54 −26 18 3.17 Anticipation of losses 1019 L Insula (LG1/LG2) −38 −22 8 4.52 <0.001 L Insula lobe (OP3) −36 −14 10 3.83 L Rolandic operculum (OP1/OP2) −34 −26 16 3.43 893 R Superior temporal gyrus 42 −18 0 5.92 <0.001 R Amygdala (CM/SF)/putamen 28 2 −10 5.15 R Insula lobe ((LG1/LG2/OP1) 36 −28 18 3.37 383 L Middle cingulate cortex −12 −32 48 4.51 0.032 R SMA 8 −28 54 3.43 Asterisk indicates the region whose bidirectional response is depicted in Figure 3.
Cluster size (number of voxels) Hemisphere Anatomical region MNI T score Cluster p value x y z Anticipation of losses versus gains 2851 L Superior temporal gyrus −56 −24 4 5.32 <0.001 L Rolandic operculum (OP1/OP2) −40 −32 16 5.28 L Insula (LG1/LG2) −36 −22 2 4.85 L Angular gyrus −44 −72 34 3.40 L Supramarginal gyrus −42 −36 24 3.20 2359 R Insula lobe (LG1/LG2) 40 −14 2 4.96 <0.001 R Insula lobe (OP1) 36 −28 18 4.20 R Amygdala (CM/SF)/putamen 28 0 −8 4.19 R Superior temporal gyrus 54 −26 12 4.14 R Rolandic operculum (OP1/OP2) 42 −24 16 3.76 683 L Middle cingulate cortex −12 −32 48 4.72 <0.001 R SMA 4 −16 60 3.09 Neural loss aversion: correlation between loss aversion and “losses minus gains” 1197 L Superior temporal gyrus −54 −32 20 5.36 <0.001 L Rolandic operculum (OP4) −54 −2 6 4.14 2649 R Superior temporal gyrus 62 −12 −4 5.75 <0.001 R Rolandic operculum (OP4) 52 4 2 5.03 R Supramarginal gyrus 52 −34 24 5.03 R Amygdala (CM/SF) 24 −2 −16 4.92 R Insula lobe 42 −10 −8 4.48 483 R Middle cingulate cortex 10 −22 44 4.96 0.007 L Middle cingulate cortex −6 −12 42 4.02 Neural loss aversion: correlation between loss aversion and “gains minus losses” 468 L Ventral caudate nucleus −12 16 0 4.68 <0.001 L Dorsal caudate nucleus −10 6 12 4.80 R Ventral caudate nucleus 14 14 2 4.22 R Dorsal caudate nucleus 14 8 12 4.19 R Pallidum 18 4 6 3.85 1592 L SMA −6 20 44 7.54 <0.001 R SMA 10 20 52 6.41 L Superior medial gyrus −4 26 40 6.28 R Superior medial gyrus 8 22 44 6.12 162 L Insula lobe −34 12 −2 4.88 0.025 253 L Inferior parietal lobule −28 −54 46 4.46 0.003 L Angular gyrus −28 −54 36 3.59 162 L Thalamus (prefrontal) −8 −16 −6 5.85 0.025 139 R Thalamus (prefrontal) 10 −16 0 5.26 0.045 Cluster size (number of voxels) Hemisphere Anatomical region MNI T score Cluster p value x y z SBM results: a “loss-aversion structural network” 1876 L Amygdala (LB/SF)/hippocampus (EC/CA) −18 −7 −21 6.31 <0.001 1512 R Amygdala (LB/SF)/hippocampus (EC/CA) 18 −6 −23 6.39 0.0028 1274 L Ventral caudate nucleus −12 18 0 6.21 0.0066 L Dorsal caudate nucleus −14 15 12 5.00 L Putamen −21 11 −3 4.88 1882 R Ventral caudate nucleus 14 20 −2 5.68 <0.001 R Dorsal caudate nucleus 15 14 15 5.45 R Putamen 24 11 −2 7.94 3112 L Thalamus (prefrontal) −9 −25 7 8.60 <0.0001 R Thalamus (temporal) 2 −15 6 10.89 VBM results: voxelwise positive correlations between GM volume and loss aversion 1051 L Amygdala (CM/SF/LB) −17 −9 −8 6.38 0.015 2203 L Thalamus −2 −27 10 4.74 0.0001 R Thalamus 3 −27 7 4.78
