Pattern of Neural Activity in Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Predicts High- and Low-Risk Behavior in Healthy Subjects

We are confronted with high- and low-risk decisions in our everyday life. Damasio argues in his somatic marker theory that not only cognitive components but also affective components are crucial in decision making. Since emotional judgment requires an interplay between emotional and cognitive function, it might be considered a key component in decision making. Although the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) has been demonstrated to be crucial in decision making, determination of high- and low-risk decisions via emotional judgment and underlying VMPFC function has not been demonstrated yet. We therefore inves…