AP31761


 * Brain's dynamic duel underlies win-win choices **

Princeton University conducted a experimental study on 42 individuals, with the intent to understand the relation between pleasure and anxiety. These individuals were given the option of choosing between two or more equally positive outcomes, which caused the study participates to experience a inconsistent and/or puzzling feeling of pleasure and anxiety (Gen Psych Chapter 9, pp. 307, 285) (Cannon-Bard Theory ), these feelings are believed to cause different activity in different regions of the brain. To monitor brain activity a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (Gen Psych, Chapter 2, Pg. 37) machine was used before and during a auction like procedure which individuals where offered high value items and low value items to keep after the experiment was over. MRI scans showed activity in two areas of the brain, the striatum and the prefrontal cortex (Gen Psych, Chapter 2, Pg. 48), which both areas are believed to be involved in decision-making. MRI scans also showed that lower parts of both regions were more active when individuals felt excited about being offered the choice, while activity in upper parts was strongly tied to feelings of anxiety. This conclusion entices researchers to believe these areas of brain activity evolved for two different reasons, one area evaluating the thing we're going to get, and the other is guiding our actions and working out how difficult the choice will be, hence pleasure and anxiety levels.(ScienceDaily) This idea and study is interesting due to the fact we all have had a win-win situation which has caused us to pause and consider which choice is better. I have been faced with this many times, I always wonder what if or left with a feeling of I should went the other route. This experiment also surprised participates with a chance at the end to switch choices, close to 50% changed their mind.

References: Princeton University. "Brain's dynamic duel underlies win-win choices." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 July 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140724172058.htm

A. Shenhav, R. L. Buckner. **Neural correlates of dueling affective reactions to win-win choices**. //Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences//, 2014; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1405725111

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