Predicting Risk-Taking Behavior from Prefrontal Resting-State Activity and Personality

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 10; p. e76861
• Main Authors: Studer, Bettina, Pedroni, Andreas, Rieskamp, Jörg
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 07.10.2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Asymmetry; Behavior; Brain research; Choice Behavior - physiology; Decision making; Decision Making - physiology; Delta Rhythm - physiology; EEG; Electrodes; Electroencephalography; Female; Gambling; Gambling - physiopathology; Gambling - psychology; Heterogeneity; Humans; Inhibition; Inhibition (psychology); Male; Neurosciences; Personality; Prefrontal cortex; Prefrontal Cortex - physiology; Psychology; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Punishment; Regression Analysis; Reinforcement; Rest - physiology; Reward; Risk; Risk taking; Sensitivity; Studies; Theta Rhythm - physiology; Visual Perception - physiology; Young Adult; United States > US; Switzerland
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0076861

Risk-taking is subject to considerable individual differences. In the current study, we tested whether resting-state activity in the prefrontal cortex and trait sensitivity to reward and punishment can help predict risk-taking behavior. Prefrontal activity at rest was assessed in seventy healthy volunteers using electroencephalography, and compared to their choice behavior on an economic risk-taking task. The Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System scale was used to measure participants' trait sensitivity to reward and punishment. Our results confirmed both prefrontal resting-state activity and personality traits as sources of individual differences in risk-taking behavior. Right-left asymmetry in prefrontal activity and scores on the Behavioral Inhibition System scale, reflecting trait sensitivity to punishment, were correlated with the level of risk-taking on the task. We further discovered that scores on the Behavioral Inhibition System scale modulated the relationship between asymmetry in prefrontal resting-state activity and risk-taking. The results of this study demonstrate that heterogeneity in risk-taking behavior can be traced back to differences in the basic physiology of decision-makers' brains, and suggest that baseline prefrontal activity and personality traits might interplay in guiding risk-taking behavior.