Amygdala damage eliminates monetary loss aversion
Amygdala damage eliminates monetary loss aversion
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.0910230107
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发表时间：
2010-02-23
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Adolphs, Ralph
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
De Martino, Benedetto;Camerer, Colin F.;Adolphs, Ralph
在许多风险决策中，损失都是可能的，生物体已经进化出了评估和避免损失的机制。实验室和现场证据表明，人们通常会避免损失风险，即使他们可能会获得更大的收益，这种行为偏好被称为“损失厌恶”。“对依赖杏仁核的行为的警示刹车是损失厌恶的一个合理的候选机制，但到目前为止还没有发现这一想法的证据。我们使用一系列实验经济学任务研究了两个罕见的双侧杏仁核局灶性病变的个体。为了衡量个人对财务损失的敏感性，我们要求参与者进行各种可能的收益和损失的货币赌博。虽然两个参与者都保持了对赌博预期价值和风险变化的正常反应能力，但与匹配的控制组相比，他们的损失厌恶程度显着降低。研究结果表明，杏仁核通过抑制具有潜在有害结果的行为，在产生损失厌恶中起着关键作用。
Losses are a possibility in many risky decisions, and organisms have evolved mechanisms to evaluate and avoid them. Laboratory and field evidence suggests that people often avoid risks with losses even when they might earn a substantially larger gain, a behavioral preference termed "loss aversion." The cautionary brake on behavior known to rely on the amygdala is a plausible candidate mechanism for loss aversion, yet evidence for this idea has so far not been found. We studied two rare individuals with focal bilateral amygdala lesions using a series of experimental economics tasks. To measure individual sensitivity to financial losses we asked participants to play a variety of monetary gambles with possible gains and losses. Although both participants retained a normal ability to respond to changes in the gambles' expected value and risk, they showed a dramatic reduction in loss aversion compared to matched controls. The findings suggest that the amygdala plays a key role in generating loss aversion by inhibiting actions with potentially deleterious outcomes.