Pubdate: Sun, 07 Nov 1999 Source: San Luis Obispo County Tribune (CA) Section: ScienceBriefs Copyright: 1999 The Tribune Contact: P.O. Box 112, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406-0112 Fax: 805.781.7905 Website: http://www.thetribunenews.com/ STUDY EXAMINES WHERE WE MAKE BAD CHOICES Drug users take many gambles in their lives, and a new study has provided a hint about which areas of the brain figure into bad decisions. Scientists from the National Institute on Drug Abuse have taken images to see which parts of the brain are engaged when people predict the consequences of their decisions. The researchers studied 11 people who were taking a gambling test designed to gauge whether people make bad decisions. The subjects were asked to choose cards from each of four decks, two "bad" and two "good." Choosing certain cards from the bad decks resulted in large rewards (in the form of poker chips), but other cards led to even larger penalties, so it was not profitable in the long run. Choosing from the good deck was more profitable in the long run because there were lots of cards with small rewards and penalty cards were not severe. People who tended to choose from the bad decks had less activity in the brain region called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. People with damage in this area also do poorly on the gambling test. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D