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Science 26 January 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5811, pp. 515 - 518
DOI: 10.1126/science.1134239
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Reports

The Neural Basis of Loss Aversion in Decision-Making Under Risk

Sabrina M. Tom,1 Craig R. Fox,1,2 Christopher Trepel,2 Russell A. Poldrack1,3,4*

People typically exhibit greater sensitivity to losses than to equivalent gains when making decisions. We investigated neural correlates of loss aversion while individuals decided whether to accept or reject gambles that offered a 50/50 chance of gaining or losing money. A broad set of areas (including midbrain dopaminergic regions and their targets) showed increasing activity as potential gains increased. Potential losses were represented by decreasing activity in several of these same gain-sensitive areas. Finally, individual differences in behavioral loss aversion were predicted by a measure of neural loss aversion in several regions, including the ventral striatum and prefrontal cortex.

1 Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Franz Hall, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA 90095–1563, USA.
2 Anderson School of Management, UCLA, 110 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095–1481, USA.
3 Brain Research Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
4 Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: poldrack{at}ucla.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)