Recent fMRI studies have investigated brain activity involved in the feeling of regret while playing a standard gambling task. Regret was induced by manipulating the feedback the subject saw: full-feedback (regret: subject sees the outcomes from both the chosen and unchosen gamble) vs. partial-feedback (disappointment: subject only sees the outcome from chosen gamble). However, regret and disappointment are also characterized by a different attribution of responsibility: personal for regret, external for disappointment. Here, we investigated the neural activity in processing feedback- and agency- regret, in order to explore whether they had different neural patterns. In the task, 16 participants played 336 trials each while undergoing whole head magneto-encephalography. After making their choice, subjects saw the outcomes from chosen and unchosen options in two separate time windows. To experimentally induce each emotion, feedback (partial vs. full), agency (human vs. computer) and outcomes (gain vs. loss) were manipulated in a full orthogonal design. Event related fields (ERF) were measured using an Elekta Neuromag Vectorview® MEG scanner (306 channels). Results showed that feedback-regret and agency-regret activated different brain regions. These differential activities occur early, between 190 msec and 305 msec after the presentation of a decision outcome. Agency-regret activates more strongly the left anterior region; feedback-regret activates to a larger extent the right anterior and posterior regions. Thus, left and right side of the brain appear to be involved in different aspects of regret. Our study extends the accumulating evidence for neural activity in processing regret in gambling tasks by using magneto-encephalography in this context for the first time.
A MEG study of emotions in decision-making: the experience of regret
Grecucci A;
2012-01-01
Abstract
Recent fMRI studies have investigated brain activity involved in the feeling of regret while playing a standard gambling task. Regret was induced by manipulating the feedback the subject saw: full-feedback (regret: subject sees the outcomes from both the chosen and unchosen gamble) vs. partial-feedback (disappointment: subject only sees the outcome from chosen gamble). However, regret and disappointment are also characterized by a different attribution of responsibility: personal for regret, external for disappointment. Here, we investigated the neural activity in processing feedback- and agency- regret, in order to explore whether they had different neural patterns. In the task, 16 participants played 336 trials each while undergoing whole head magneto-encephalography. After making their choice, subjects saw the outcomes from chosen and unchosen options in two separate time windows. To experimentally induce each emotion, feedback (partial vs. full), agency (human vs. computer) and outcomes (gain vs. loss) were manipulated in a full orthogonal design. Event related fields (ERF) were measured using an Elekta Neuromag Vectorview® MEG scanner (306 channels). Results showed that feedback-regret and agency-regret activated different brain regions. These differential activities occur early, between 190 msec and 305 msec after the presentation of a decision outcome. Agency-regret activates more strongly the left anterior region; feedback-regret activates to a larger extent the right anterior and posterior regions. Thus, left and right side of the brain appear to be involved in different aspects of regret. Our study extends the accumulating evidence for neural activity in processing regret in gambling tasks by using magneto-encephalography in this context for the first time.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
