Ventral striatal signal changes represent missed opportunities and predict future choice

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 57; no. 3; pp. 1124 - 1130
• Main Authors: Büchel, Christian, Brassen, Stefanie, Yacubian, Juliana, Kalisch, Raffael, Sommer, Tobias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01-08-2011; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Basal Ganglia - physiology; Brain Mapping; Choice Behavior - physiology; Counterfactual thinking; Data processing; Decision making; Expected values; Female; fMRI; Gaming machines; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Influence; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Probability; Regret; Risk taking; Studies; Ventral striatum; Volunteers; Regret; fMRI; Ventral striatum; Risk taking; Counterfactual thinking
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.05.031

Realizing one has missed an opportunity can influence decision behavior in the future, such that a large missed opportunity leads to more risk taking in the next round. To investigate the neuronal mechanism of this phenomenon we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in combination with a sequential decision task in which the magnitude of possible gains linearly increased, but at the same time the gain probability decreased. After subjects decided to stop a trial and to collect the gains, not only the chosen option (actual outcome), but also the alternative option (maximum possible gain in this round) was revealed. Our data show that a missed chance influenced volunteers’ decision behavior: volunteers took more risk after rounds in which they had missed a large opportunity. This was paralleled by signal changes in a lateral area of the ventral striatum that scaled with the difference between what could have been gained and what was actually gained in this round. In addition, after gains signal changes in dopaminoceptive structures including the midbrain and ventral striatum together with the insula predicted individual choice behavior in the subsequent round. Thus, our data provide a neural mechanism for how missed opportunities influence future decisions.
► A missed opportunity influences choice behavior in serially independent gambles. ► Missed opportunities are reflected by signal changes in the ventral striatum. ► Ventral striatal signal predicts risk taking in subsequent rounds.