title: The involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex in the experience of regret.
abstract: Facing the consequence of a decision we made can trigger emotions like satisfaction, relief, or regret, which reflect our assessment of what was gained as compared to what would have been gained by making a different decision. These emotions are mediated by a cognitive process known as counterfactual thinking. By manipulating a simple gambling task, we characterized a subject's choices in terms of their anticipated and actual emotional impact. Normal subjects reported emotional responses consistent with counterfactual thinking; they chose to minimize future regret and learned from their emotional experience. Patients with orbitofrontal cortical lesions, however, did not report regret or anticipate negative consequences of their choices. The orbitofrontal cortex has a fundamental role in mediating the experience of regret.
authors.affiliation: Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS, 67, Boulevard Pinel 69675 Bron, France.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Camille
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coricelli
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sallet
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pradat-Diehl
authors.forename: Jean-René
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Duhamel
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sirigu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003657:Decision Making; D004644:Emotions; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D005715:Gambling; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D013850:Thinking