Individuals vary substantially in their tendency to take risks. In the past two decades, a large number of neuroimaging studies in humans have explored the neural mechanisms of several cognitive processes that contribute to risk taking. In this article, I focus on functional and structural MRI studies that investigated uncertainty processing, one of the main features of risk behavior. Using decision-making and learning paradigms, these studies implicated a network of brain areas, including posterior parietal cortex, anterior insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, in various aspects of uncertainty processing. Individual differences in behavior under uncertainty are reflected in the function and structure of some of these areas and are integrated into value representations in ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum, reinforcing the potential contribution of all of these brain structures to individual tendencies to take risks.
BachDRHulmeOPennyWDDolanRJ. 2011. The known unknowns: neural representation of second-order uncertainty, and ambiguity. J Neurosci31(13):4811–20.
2.
BartraOMcGuireJTKableJW. 2013. The valuation system: a coordinate-based meta-analysis of BOLD fMRI experiments examining neural correlates of subjective value. Neuroimage76:412–27.
3.
BecharaADamasioHTranelDDamasioAR. 1997. Deciding advantageously before knowing the advantageous strategy. Science275(5304):1293–5.
4.
BehrensTEWoolrichMWWaltonMERushworthMF. 2007. Learning the value of information in an uncertain world. Nat Neurosci10(9):1214–21.
5.
BernoulliD. 1738/1954. Exposition of a new theory on the measurement of risk. Econometrica22(1):23–36.
6.
BlankensteinNECroneEAvan den BosWvan DuijvenvoordeAC. 2016. Dealing with uncertainty: testing risk- and ambiguity-attitude across adolescence. Dev Neuropsychol41(1–2):77–92.
7.
CamererCWeberM. 1992. Recent developments in modeling preferences—uncertainty and ambiguity. J Risk Uncertainty5(4):325–70.
8.
CarterCSBraverTSBarchDMBotvinickMMNollDCohenJD. 1998. Anterior cingulate cortex, error detection, and the online monitoring of performance. Science280(5364):747–9.
9.
ChibVSRangelAShimojoSO’DohertyJP. 2009. Evidence for a common representation of decision values for dissimilar goods in human ventromedial prefrontal cortex. J Neurosci29(39):12315–20.
10.
ClitheroJARangelA. 2014. Informatic parcellation of the network involved in the computation of subjective value. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci9(9):1289–302.
11.
CohenMJaffrayJYSaidT. 1987. Experimental comparison of individual behavior under risk and under uncertainty for gains and for losses. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process39(1):1–22.
12.
DonohewLZimmermanRCuppPSNovakSColonSAbellR. 2000. Sensation seeking, impulsive decision-making, and risky sex: implications for risk-taking and design of interventions. Pers Indiv Dif28(6):1079–91.
13.
EllsbergD. 1961. Risk, ambiguity, and the savage axioms. Q J Econ75(4):643–69.
14.
FitzGeraldTHSeymourBDolanRJ. 2009. The role of human orbitofrontal cortex in value comparison for incommensurable objects. J Neurosci29(26):8388–95.
15.
FoxCRTverskyA. 1995. Ambiguity aversion and comparative ignorance. Q J Econ110(3):585–603.
GlimcherPW. 2008. Understanding risk: a guide for the perplexed. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci8(4):348–54.
18.
GlimcherPWFehrE. 2014. Neuroeconomics: decision making and the brain. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.
19.
HareTACamererCFRangelA. 2009. Self-control in decision-making involves modulation of the vmPFC valuation system. Science324(5927):646–8.
20.
HarrisonGWJohnsonEIMcInnesMMRutstromEE. 2005. Temporal stability of estimates of risk aversion. Appl Fin Econ Lett1:31–5.
21.
HeathCTverskyA. 1991. Preference and belief—ambiguity and competence in choice under uncertainty. J Risk Uncertainty4(1):5–28.
22.
HertwigRBarronGWeberEUErevI. 2004. Decisions from experience and the effect of rare events in risky choice. Psychol Sci15(8):534–9.
23.
HertwigROrtmannA. 2001. Experimental practices in economics: a methodological challenge for psychologists?Behav Brain Sci24(3):383–403.
24.
HsuMBhattMAdolphsRTranelDCamererCF. 2005. Neural systems responding to degrees of uncertainty in human decision-making. Science310(5754):1680–3.
25.
HsuMKrajbichIZhaoCCamererCF. 2009. Neural response to reward anticipation under risk is nonlinear in probabilities. J Neurosci29(7):2231–7.
26.
HuettelSASongAWMcCarthyG. 2005. Decisions under uncertainty: probabilistic context influences activation of prefrontal and parietal cortices. J Neurosci25(13):3304–11.
27.
HuettelSAStoweCJGordonEMWarnerBTPlattML. 2006. Neural signatures of economic preferences for risk and ambiguity. Neuron49(5):765–75.
28.
KableJWGlimcherPW. 2007. The neural correlates of subjective value during intertemporal choice. Nat Neurosci10(12):1625–33.
29.
KableJWLevyI. 2015. Neural markers of individual differences in decision-making. Curr Opin Behav Sci5:100–7.
30.
KahnemanDTverskyA. 1979. Prospect theory—analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica47(2):263–91.
31.
KanaiRReesG. 2011. The structural basis of inter-individual differences in human behaviour and cognition. Nat Rev Neurosci12(4):231–42.
32.
KnochDGianottiLRPascual-LeoneATreyerVRegardMHohmannM, and others. 2006. Disruption of right prefrontal cortex by low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation induces risk-taking behavior. J Neurosci26(24):6469–72.
33.
KnutsonBTaylorJKaufmanMPetersonRGloverG. 2005. Distributed neural representation of expected value. J Neurosci25(19):4806–12.
34.
KollingNBehrensTEMarsRBRushworthMF. 2012. Neural mechanisms of foraging. Science336(6077):95–8.
35.
KollingNWittmannMRushworthMF. 2014. Multiple neural mechanisms of decision making and their competition under changing risk pressure. Neuron81(5):1190–202.
36.
KuhnenCMKnutsonB. 2005. The neural basis of financial risk taking. Neuron47(5):763–70.
37.
LevyDJGlimcherPW. 2011. Comparing apples and oranges: using reward-specific and reward-general subjective value representation in the brain. J Neurosci31(41):14693–707.
38.
LevyDJGlimcherPW. 2012. The root of all value: a neural common currency for choice. Curr Opin Neurobiol22(6):1027–38.
39.
LevyISnellJNelsonAJRustichiniAGlimcherPW. 2010. Neural representation of subjective value under risk and ambiguity. J Neurophysiol103(2):1036–47.
40.
LinAAdolphsRRangelA. 2012. Social and monetary reward learning engage overlapping neural substrates. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci7(3):274–81.
41.
LouieKGlimcherPW. 2010. Separating value from choice: delay discounting activity in the lateral intraparietal area. J Neurosci30(16):5498–507.
42.
LouieKGrattanLEGlimcherPW. 2011. Reward value-based gain control: divisive normalization in parietal cortex. J Neurosci31(29):10627–39.
43.
ManerJKRicheyJACromerKMallottMLejuezCWJoinerTE, and others. 2007. Dispositional anxiety and risk-avoidant decision-making. Pers Indiv Dif42(4):665–75.
44.
MarchJGShapiraZ. 1987. Managerial perspectives on risk and risk-taking. Manage Sci33(11):1404–18.
45.
MarkowitzHM. 1991. Foundations of portfolio theory. J Fin46(2):469–77.
46.
McNameeDRangelAO’DohertyJP. 2013. Category-dependent and category-independent goal-value codes in human ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Nat Neurosci16(4):479–85.
47.
ParkSQKahntTRieskampJHeekerenHR. 2011. Neurobiology of value integration: when value impacts valuation. J Neurosci31(25):9307–14.
Payzan-LeNestourEDunneSBossaertsPO’DohertyJP. 2013. The neural representation of unexpected uncertainty during value-based decision making. Neuron79(1):191–201.
50.
PetitP. 2002. To reach the clouds: my high-wire walk between the twin towers. New York: North Point Press.
51.
PhelpsEALeDouxJE. 2005. Contributions of the amygdala to emotion processing: from animal models to human behavior. Neuron48(2):175–87.
52.
PlattMLGlimcherPW. 1999. Neural correlates of decision variables in parietal cortex. Nature400(6741):233–8.
53.
PreuschoffKBossaertsPQuartzSR. 2006. Neural differentiation of expected reward and risk in human subcortical structures. Neuron51(3):381–90.
54.
PushkarskayaHSmithsonMJosephJECorblyCLevyI. 2015. Neural correlates of decision-making under ambiguity and conflict. Front Behav Neurosci9:325.
55.
PushkarskayaHTolinDRudermanLKirshenbaumAKellyJMPittengerC, and others. 2015. Decision-making under uncertainty in obsessive-compulsive disorder. J Psychiatr Res69:166–73.
56.
ReddyLFLeeJDavisMCAltshulerLGlahnDCMiklowitzDJ, and others. 2014. Impulsivity and risk taking in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Neuropsychopharmacology39(2):456–63.
57.
RudermanLEhrlichDBRoyAPietrzakRHHarpaz-RotemILevyI. 2016. Posttraumatic stress symptoms and aversion to ambiguous losses in combat veterans. Depress Anxiety33(7):606–13.
58.
RzhetskyAFosterJGFosterITEvansJA. 2015. Choosing experiments to accelerate collective discovery. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A112(47):14569–74.
59.
SamuelsonPA. 1938. A note on the pure theory of consumer behavior. Economia1:61–71.
60.
SamuelsonPA. 1948. Consumption theory in terms of revealed preference. Economica—New Series15(60):243–53.
61.
ShenhavAStracciaMACohenJDBotvinickMM. 2014. Anterior cingulate engagement in a foraging context reflects choice difficulty, not foraging value. Nat Neurosci17(9):1249–54.
62.
SugrueLPCorradoGSNewsomeWT. 2004. Matching behavior and the representation of value in the parietal cortex. Science304(5678):1782–7.
63.
ToblerPNChristopoulosGIO’DohertyJPDolanRJSchultzW. 2008. Neuronal distortions of reward probability without choice. J Neurosci28(45):11703–11.
64.
ToblerPNChristopoulosGIO’DohertyJPDolanRJSchultzW. 2009. Risk-dependent reward value signal in human prefrontal cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A106(17):185–90.
65.
ToblerPNO’DohertyJPDolanRJSchultzW. 2007. Reward value coding distinct from risk attitude-related uncertainty coding in human reward systems. J Neurophysiol97(2):1621–32.
66.
TomSMFoxCRTrepelCPoldrackRA. 2007. The neural basis of loss aversion in decision-making under risk. Science315(5811):515–8.
67.
TrautmannSTVieiderFMWakkerPP. 2008. Causes of ambiguity aversion: known versus unknown preferences. J Risk Uncertainty36(3):225–43.
68.
TverskyAKahnemanD. 1992. Advances in prospect-theory—cumulative representation of uncertainty. J Risk Uncertainty5(4):297–323.
69.
TymulaARosenberg BelmakerLARoyAKRudermanLMansonKGlimcherPW, and others. 2012. Adolescents’ risk-taking behavior is driven by tolerance to ambiguity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A109(42):17135–40.
70.
TymulaARosenberg BelmakerLARudermanLGlimcherPWLevyI. 2013. Like cognitive function, decision making across the life span shows profound age-related changes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A110(42):17143–8.
71.
Von NeumannJMorgensternO. 1944. Theory of games and economic behavior. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
72.
WagnerMK. 2001. Behavioral characteristics related to substance abuse and risk-taking, sensation-seeking, anxiety sensitivity, and self-reinforcement. Addict Behav26(1):115–20.
73.
WeberEUBlaisARBetzNE. 2002. A domain-specific risk-attitude scale: measuring risk perceptions and risk behaviors. J Behav Decis Mak15(4):263–90.
74.
ZuckermanMKuhlmanDM. 2000. Personality and risk-taking: common biosocial factors. J Pers68(6):999–1029.
