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Neurobiological substrates of dread.
Gregory S Berns1, Jonathan Chappelow, Milos Cekic
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, 101 Woodruff Circle, Suite 4000, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. gberns@emory.edu
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|May 6, 2006
Summary
People often prefer immediate unpleasantness over waiting due to dread. Brain scans reveal that neural activity in the pain matrix during waiting predicts decision-making, linking dread to attention to physical responses.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Decision Science
- Psychology
Background:
- Decision-making models often incorporate a cost of waiting, termed dread.
- Dread influences choices between immediate versus delayed adverse outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural basis of dread using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
- To examine how neural responses during waiting relate to individual differences in decision-making under uncertainty.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity while participants waited for a cutaneous electric shock.
- Participants' neural responses during passive waiting were analyzed and correlated with their choices in a subsequent decision-making task.
Main Results:
- Individuals exhibited varying levels of dread, with some preferring higher shock intensity over waiting.
- Neural activity in the posterior cortical pain matrix increased at different rates in individuals with high versus mild dread.
- These neural differences during passive waiting predicted subsequent behavioral choices, indicating a link between dread and decision-making.
Conclusions:
- Dread appears to stem partly from attention to the anticipated physical response, not solely from anxiety or fear.
- Neurobiological differences in processing waiting periods are linked to experienced disutility and influence decisions regarding unpleasant outcomes.
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