Values and Actions in Aversion

Dayan, Peter; Seymour, Ben

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-374176-9.00012-9

Cited by 47 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…Our findings demonstrate that the amygdala plays a necessary role in generating loss aversion and suggest that loss aversion may reflect a simple Pavlovian approach-avoidance response mediated by the amygdala (36,37). Given the amygdala's well-known link to caution, vigilance (13), and fear in the face of uncertainty (15), we suggest that the amygdala may implement a very general biological mechanism for inhibiting instrumental behavior when outcomes are potentially aversive-a role that is expressed in monetary loss aversion shaping everyday financial decisions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Amygdala damage eliminates monetary loss aversion

Martino

Camerer

Adolphs

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

380

302

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Losses are a possibility in many risky decisions, and organisms have evolved mechanisms to evaluate and avoid them. Laboratory and field evidence suggests that people often avoid risks with losses even when they might earn a substantially larger gain, a behavioral preference termed "loss aversion." The cautionary brake on behavior known to rely on the amygdala is a plausible candidate mechanism for loss aversion, yet evidence for this idea has so far not been found. We studied two rare individuals with focal bilateral amygdala lesions using a series of experimental economics tasks. To measure individual sensitivity to financial losses we asked participants to play a variety of monetary gambles with possible gains and losses. Although both participants retained a normal ability to respond to changes in the gambles' expected value and risk, they showed a dramatic reduction in loss aversion compared to matched controls. The findings suggest that the amygdala plays a key role in generating loss aversion by inhibiting actions with potentially deleterious outcomes.oss aversion describes the widespread behavioral avoidance of choices that can lead to losses, even when accompanied by equal or much larger gains. This phenomenon was first proposed as part of "prospect theory" (1), a theory of choice among monetary gambles. Across many studies, losses typically loom about 1.5-2 times as large as gains: for instance, people will avoid gambles in which they are equally likely to either lose $10 or win $15, even though the expected value of the gamble is positive ($2.50). Loss aversion has been well documented in the laboratory and in many field settings (2), including high-stakes game show decisions (3), financial markets (4), politics (5), trade policy for declining industries (6), rate of organ donation for transplant cases (7) and has also been evident in monkey behavior (8). But what drives loss-averse behavior, and what neural structures mediate the effect?Our study tested the hypothesis that the amygdala mediates loss aversion, an idea motivated by a large literature implicating this brain structure in processing fear and threat (9), as well as in anticipation and experience of monetary loss (10). Given the amygdala's prominent role in affective processing, it is also relevant to note that loss aversion appears to increase with affective enrichment of "hedonic" consumer goods (e.g., music CDs versus computer disks) (11) and more generally with emotional attachment (12). Intriguingly, recent theories of amygdala function argue that the amygdala subserves an abstract function in detecting uncertainty (13) or ambiguity (14) in the environment and in triggering arousal and vigilance as a consequence. This hypothesis is consistent with a tendency for amygdalalesioned monkeys to approach stimuli that healthy monkeys avoid (15), as well as greater amygdala activation in people with more inhibited personalities (16). Furthermore, a recent study found that increased cognitive control of the autonomic emotional responses normall...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Amygdala damage eliminates monetary loss aversion

Martino

Camerer

Adolphs

2010

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

380

302

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“…In particular, excitatory losses would be expected to evoke much stronger innate responses ('species-specific defence responses' (SSDRs)) which directly interfere with behavior [34]. In animal studies of primary punishments, this direct Pavlovian response can exert powerful control of behavior -sometimes called 'Pavlovian warping' [35,36]. Again, however, we would only expect this excitatory Pavlovian response (a positive striatal signal) early in avoidance behavior, because it would extinguish as successful avoidance becomes the norm [37].…”

Section: From Loss Prediction To Decision-makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

When is a loss a loss? Excitatory and inhibitory processes in loss-related decision-making

Seymour

Maruyama

Martino

2015

Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences

Self Cite

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“…Contrary to instrumental controllers, which learn novel actions guided by reward maximization (Daw et al, 2005; Pezzulo and Castelfranchi, 2009; Pezzulo and Rigoli, 2011; Solway and Botvinick, 2012), the Pavlovian system associates hard-wired reactions to unconditioned or conditioned stimuli (Mackintosh, 1983; Dayan and Seymour, 2008). The instrumental-Pavlovian interaction has been studied both in animals (Estes and Skinner, 1941; Rescorla and Solomon, 1967; Overmier et al, 1971; Dickinson and Pearce, 1977; Colwill and Rescorla, 1988; Holland, 2004) and, more recently, in humans (Bray et al, 2008; Talmi et al, 2008; Huys et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aversive Pavlovian Responses Affect Human Instrumental Motor Performance

Rigoli¹,

Pavone²,

Pezzulo³

2012

Front. Neurosci.

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In neuroscience and psychology, an influential perspective distinguishes between two kinds of behavioral control: instrumental (habitual and goal-directed) and Pavlovian. Understanding the instrumental-Pavlovian interaction is fundamental for the comprehension of decision-making. Animal studies (as those using the negative auto-maintenance paradigm), have demonstrated that Pavlovian mechanisms can have maladaptive effects on instrumental performance. However, evidence for a similar effect in humans is scarce. In addition, the mechanisms modulating the impact of Pavlovian responses on instrumental performance are largely unknown, both in human and non-human animals. The present paper describes a behavioral experiment investigating the effects of Pavlovian conditioned responses on performance in humans, focusing on the aversive domain. Results showed that Pavlovian responses influenced human performance, and, similar to animal studies, could have maladaptive effects. In particular, Pavlovian responses either impaired or increased performance depending on modulator variables such as threat distance, task controllability, punishment history, amount of training, and explicit punishment expectancy. Overall, these findings help elucidating the computational mechanisms underlying the instrumental-Pavlovian interaction, which might be at the base of apparently irrational phenomena in economics, social behavior, and psychopathology.

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Values and Actions in Aversion

Cited by 47 publications

References 102 publications

Amygdala damage eliminates monetary loss aversion

Amygdala damage eliminates monetary loss aversion

When is a loss a loss? Excitatory and inhibitory processes in loss-related decision-making

Aversive Pavlovian Responses Affect Human Instrumental Motor Performance

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