Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity reflects the brain's remarkable capacity to adapt and evolve, responding dynamically to learning, experiences, or injury by reorganizing its neural circuitry. This reorganization involves creating new neural connections and refining old ones through a series of biological processes that contribute to the brain's lifelong development and adaptability.

Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness

Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness

Avoidance learning and learned helplessness are critical concepts in understanding behavioral responses to negative stimuli.
Avoidance learning occurs when an organism learns that a specific behavior can prevent an unpleasant outcome. For example, a student who receives a bad grade may start studying harder to avoid future poor grades. This behavior persists even when the negative outcome is no longer present. Avoidance learning is powerful because it maintains behavior in the absence of the...

The Availability Heuristic

The Availability Heuristic

A heuristic is a general problem-solving framework (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). You can think of these as mental shortcuts that are used to solve problems. Different types of heuristics are used in different types of situations, and the impulse to use a heuristic occurs when one of five conditions is met (Pratkanis, 1989):

Instinctive Drift

Instinctive Drift

Instinctive drift refers to the tendency of animals to revert to their innate behaviors despite repeated reinforcement. Breland and Breland demonstrated this concept in an experiment with a raccoon. The raccoon was trained to pick up two coins and place them in a container in exchange for food. Initially, the raccoon learned to associate the coins with food, making them a conditioned stimulus or a substitute for food. However, over time, the raccoon became less willing to put the coins into the...

Fundamental Attribution Error

Fundamental Attribution Error

According to some social psychologists, people tend to overemphasize internal factors as explanations—or attributions—for the behavior of other people. They tend to assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others. They tend to fail to recognize when the behavior of another is due to situational variables, and thus to the person’s state. This erroneous assumption is...

Decision Making

Decision Making

Decision-making is a fundamental cognitive process that involves evaluating alternatives and selecting among them. This process can range from simple choices, such as deciding what to wear, to complex decisions, like choosing a major in college or a career path. The complexity of the decision often dictates the approach we use, which can be broadly categorized into two types: automatic and controlled decision-making.
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Leonurine inhibits the proliferation and metastasis of liver cancer cells by regulating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway via epithelial‑mesenchymal transition.

Molecular medicine reports·2026

Same author

Shared neurogenetic substrates of nonplanning impulsivity and procrastination.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2026

Same author

Crystal structure of a LysR regulator reveal an unconventional effector pocket from Acinetobacter baumannii.

Biochemical and biophysical research communications·2026

Same author

Psychological resilience moderates the relationship between childhood adversity, brain network connectivity, and wellness.

Development and psychopathology·2026

Same author

Amyloid-Like Nanocoatings for Enhanced Hemoperfusion Materials.

Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)·2026

Same author

A CT-based radiomics model for predicting pain relief after radiotherapy in patients with bone metastases: a dual-center study.

Frontiers in oncology·2026

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 3, 2025

Measuring the Subjective Value of Risky and Ambiguous Options using Experimental Economics and Functional MRI Methods

Measuring the Subjective Value of Risky and Ambiguous Options using Experimental Economics and Functional MRI Methods

Published on: September 19, 2012

Being bold wisely: neural substrates underlying ability to exploit risk.

Bowen Hu^1,2, Qinghua He^1,2, Jiang Qiu^1,2

¹Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, No. 2, Tiansheng Road, Beibei, Chongqing 400715, China.

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)

|April 10, 2023

Summary

Taking risks wisely is key to success. This study found that the ability to exploit risk is linked to gray matter volume in specific brain regions, including the orbitofrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Keywords:

dorsolateral prefrontal cortex orbitofrontal cortex risk-taking propensity risky decision making voxel-based morphometry

More Related Videos

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats

Published on: February 20, 2019

Assessment of Stress Effects on Cognitive Flexibility using an Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm

Assessment of Stress Effects on Cognitive Flexibility using an Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm

Published on: May 4, 2020

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Aug 3, 2025

Measuring the Subjective Value of Risky and Ambiguous Options using Experimental Economics and Functional MRI Methods

Measuring the Subjective Value of Risky and Ambiguous Options using Experimental Economics and Functional MRI Methods

Published on: September 19, 2012

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats

A Conflict Model of Reward-seeking Behavior in Male Rats

Published on: February 20, 2019

Assessment of Stress Effects on Cognitive Flexibility using an Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm

Assessment of Stress Effects on Cognitive Flexibility using an Operant Strategy Shifting Paradigm

Published on: May 4, 2020

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Decision-making research
Cognitive psychology

Background:

Successful risk-taking requires not just propensity but the ability to exploit risk effectively.
Understanding the neural basis of risk exploitation is crucial for comprehending decision-making under uncertainty.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the neural substrates associated with the individual ability to exploit risk.
To correlate brain structure with behavioral measures of risk-taking and earnings.

Main Methods:

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to analyze structural MRI data from 1,389 participants.
The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) was administered to measure risk-taking propensity and earnings.
Individual ability to exploit risk was calculated by comparing actual earnings to group averages at similar risk levels.

Main Results:

Behavioral analysis showed an inverted-U-shaped relationship between risk-taking propensity and earnings.
VBM analysis revealed positive correlations between risk exploitation ability and gray matter volume in the right orbitofrontal cortex and bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC).

Conclusions:

The study identifies specific neural substrates, including the orbitofrontal cortex and dlPFC, underpinning the ability to exploit risk.
Findings suggest that precise valuation, adaptive learning, and self-control are critical components of effective risk exploitation.