Dr. Brian Sweis presented his research on the involvement of neuronal mechanisms in decision making at Loyola University Chicago on January 26, 2016 to the Neuroscience seminar. During the seminar, he explained that with the use of rodents, they were able to measure the neuronal activity that took place while in the process of making a decision and also the activity that took place after a decision was made. In the experiment, the rodents were placed in a maze which had different reward zones; each zone contained a different type of food. As the rodent entered each zone, a tone would be triggered which informed the rodent of the estimated wait time. If the rodent reached its threshold, they choose to seek the other option right away. But if the alternate zone took the same amount of time or more, the concept of regret was demonstrated. Dr. Sweis explained that the measurement of “neural signals related to regret are encoded in OFC (orbitofrontal cortex) and ventral striatum in rats performing an economic decision task” (Redish). Based on the observed brain activity, OFC cells were involved when the rodent was making a decision and deliberating about it after. From these results, it is demonstrated that OFC is critical for representing outcomes when animals think about past or future decisions. Along with animals, Dr. Sweis also explained that the OFC structure is equally needed for regret in humans. The article states that humans that suffer damage to the OFC structure do not report regret or anticipate negative consequences of actions while performing gambling tasks. These very ideas of regret observed in Dr. Sweis’s study play a role in our everyday life. An example of this is explained in the article “Regret and Economic Decision-Making” by Philipp Strack and Paul Viefers.
The article “Regret and Economic Decision-Making” takes the idea of regret observed in Dr. Sweis study and relates it to everyday situations that humans go through. According to an article called “The Psychology of Regret”, regret is defined as “negative cognitive/emotional state that involves blaming ourselves for a bad outcome, feeling a sense of loss or sorrow at what might have been or wishing we could undo a previous choice that we made”(Greenberg). The idea of regret is successfully demonstrated in the article by Strack and Viefers, as they explain the meaning of prospect theory. Prospect theory explains that our willingness to take risks is based on our previous experience. To support this theory, Strack and Viefers explain the regret and gambling experiment. In the experiment, “participants took part in a computer-based experiment where they repeatedly played an asset-selling game” (Strack and Viefers). On the computer, they were observing stock prices and had to decide whether to sell or hold the stock, similar to the decision the rodents had to make in Dr. Sweis’s study. The results obtained from the experiment shows a correlation between the price at which the stock was sold and past maximal stock price. This shows the effect of regret on future decisions and the amount of risk individuals are willing to take, which either suppresses or expands their threshold. The article also explains “if regret is anticipated, investors may keep their hands off risky investments, such as stocks, thus, anticipated risks aversion acts like a surrogate for higher risk aversion”(Strack and Viefers). This idea presented in this article closely relates to another concept explained by Dr. Sweis. When the rodents experienced regret, it was noted that the rats had a new-found caution in decision-making. This is seen in this article as investors ‘learned’ to stay away from risky investments.
In conclusion, the lecture by Dr. Sweis and the article by Strack and Viefers both show the significance of regret and how it affects our future decisions. It shows that caution is produced as a consequence of regretting certain actions. Whether we realize it or not, regret plays a huge role in our economic decisions, along with other decisions that we make in our life.
Work Cited
Bissonette, B., Gregory, Bryden, W., Daniel, Roesch, R., Matthew. "You Won't Regret Reading This" Nature Neuroscience
Redish, David, Steiner, A. “Behavioral and neurophysiological correlates of regret in rat decision-making on a neuroeconomic task.” Nature Neuroscience.
Strack, Philipp. "Regret and Economic Decision-making." VOX. 16 Oct. 2014. Web. <http://www.voxeu.org/article/regret-and-economic-decision-making>.
Greenberg, Melanie. “The Psychology of Regret.” Psychology Today. Psychology Today, 16 May 2012. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
Pictures
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