title: Uncovering putative neural markers of risk avoidance.
abstract: Risk avoidance is a hallmark of psychopathological conditions such as anxiety disorders. Yet few studies have examined its neural basis. The present work sought to identify the neural correlates of risk avoidance. While functional MRI scans were acquired, healthy adults (N=23) played a Wheel of Fortune game during which they chose to bet or pass on each of 104 proposed gamble trials. Participants also completed the Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events (CARE, Fromme et al., 1997), a self-report measure of "real world" risky behavior. As expected, decision-making was associated with activation, as measured by increased BOLD responses, of the striatum, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and parietal lobe. Risk avoidance during probabilistic trials (percent of trials passed) was significantly correlated with precuneus and striatal responses to trials with a certain outcome (No-Risk). Similarly, "real world" risk avoidance, as measured by the CARE, was significantly correlated with precuneus activity during No-Risk trials. Collectively, these data suggest that precuneus and striatal responses to decision-making under certainty represent putative neural markers of risk avoidance in the laboratory and in the "real world." Further, they underline the need to extend neuroimaging research on risk avoidance, and associated anxiety disorders, to posterior cortical regions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, James Hall, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA; Phyllis Green and Randolph Cowen Institute for Pediatric Neuroscience, New York University Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. Electronic address: amy.roy@nyumc.org.
authors.forename: Amy Krain
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.affiliation: Phyllis Green and Randolph Cowen Institute for Pediatric Neuroscience, New York University Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gotimer
authors.affiliation: Phyllis Green and Randolph Cowen Institute for Pediatric Neuroscience, New York University Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: A M Clare
authors.initials: AMC
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.affiliation: Phyllis Green and Randolph Cowen Institute for Pediatric Neuroscience, New York University Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: F Xavier
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Castellanos
authors.affiliation: Phyllis Green and Randolph Cowen Institute for Pediatric Neuroscience, New York University Child Study Center, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Milham
authors.affiliation: Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, National Institute of Mental Health/National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ernst
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012309:Risk-Taking; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen