Regret and its avoidance: a neuroimaging study of choice behavior

ABSTRACT Human decisions can be shaped by predictions of emotions that ensue after choosing advantageously or disadvantageously. Indeed, anticipating regret is a powerful predictor of future

choices. We measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while subjects selected between two gambles wherein regret was induced by providing information about

the outcome of the unchosen gamble. Increasing regret enhanced activity in the medial orbitofrontal region, the anterior cingulate cortex and the hippocampus. Notably, across the experiment,

subjects became increasingly regret-aversive, a cumulative effect reflected in enhanced activity within medial orbitofrontal cortex and amygdala. This pattern of activity reoccurred just

before making a choice, suggesting that the same neural circuitry mediates direct experience of regret and its anticipation. These results demonstrate that medial orbitofrontal cortex

modulates the gain of adaptive emotions in a manner that may provide a substrate for the influence of high-level emotions on decision making. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access

$209.00 per year only $17.42 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink * Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are

calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS

PREFRONTAL SIGNALS PRECEDE STRIATAL SIGNALS FOR BIASED CREDIT ASSIGNMENT IN MOTIVATIONAL LEARNING BIASES Article Open access 02 January 2024 DISTINCT NEURAL COMPUTATIONS SCALE THE VIOLATION

OF EXPECTED REWARD AND EMOTION IN SOCIAL TRANSGRESSIONS Article Open access 21 January 2025 VALUE AND CHOICE AS SEPARABLE AND STABLE REPRESENTATIONS IN ORBITOFRONTAL CORTEX Article Open

access 10 July 2020 REFERENCES * Roese, N.J. & Olson, J.M. _What Might Have Been: The Social Psychology of Counterfactual Thinking_ (Erlbaum, Mahwah, New Jersey, USA, 1995). Google

Scholar  * Byrne, R.M.J. Mental models and counterfactual thinking. _Trends Cogn. Sci._ 6, 426–445 (2002). Article  Google Scholar  * Kahneman, D. & Tversky, A. The psychology of

preferences. _Sci. Am._ 246, 136–142 (1982). Article  Google Scholar  * Kahneman, D. & Miller, D. Norm theory: comparing reality to its alternatives. _Psychol. Rev._ 93, 136–153 (1986).

Article  Google Scholar  * Mellers, B., Schwartz, A. & Ritov, I. Emotion-based choice. _J. Exp. Psychol. Gen._ 128, 332–345 (1999). Article  Google Scholar  * Zeelenberg, M. & van

Dijk, E. On the comparative nature of regret. in _The Psychology of Counterfactual Thinking_ (eds. Mandel, D., Hilton D. & Catelani, P.) 147–161 (Routledge, London, 2005). Google Scholar

  * Bell, D.E. Regret in decision-making under uncertainty. _Oper. Res._ 30, 961–981 (1982). Article  Google Scholar  * Loomes, G. & Sugden, R. Regret theory: an alternative theory of

rational choice under uncertainty. _Econ. J._ 92, 805–824 (1982). Article  Google Scholar  * Bell, D.E. Disappointment in decision making under uncertainty. _Oper. Res._ 33, 1–27 (1985).

Article  Google Scholar  * Loomes, G. & Sugden, R. Disappointment and dynamic inconsistency in choice under uncertainty. _Rev. Econ. Stud._ 53, 271–282 (1986). Article  Google Scholar  *

Zeelenberg, M. et al. Consequences of regret aversion: effects of expected feedback on risky decision making. _Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process._ 65, 148–158 (1996). Article  Google

Scholar  * Gottfried, J.A. & Dolan, R.J. Human orbitofrontal cortex mediates extinction learning while accessing conditioned representations of value. _Nat. Neurosci._ 7, 1144–1152

(2004). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Rolls, E.T. The orbitofrontal cortex and reward. _Cereb. Cortex_ 10, 284–294 (2000). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Tremblay, L. & Schultz, W.

Relative reward preference in primate orbitofrontal cortex. _Nature_ 398, 704–708 (1999). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Elliott, R. et al. Dissociable neural responses in human reward

systems. _J. Neurosci._ 20, 6159–6165 (2000). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Kringelbach, M. & Rolls, E. The functional neuroanatomy of the human orbitofrontal cortex: evidence from

neuroimaging and neuropsychology. _Prog. Neurobiol._ 72, 341–372 (2004). Article  Google Scholar  * Breiter, H.C., Ahron, I., Kahneman, D., Dale, A. & Shizgal, P. Functional imaging of

neural responses to expectancy and experience of monetary gains and losses. _Neuron_ 30, 619–639 (2001). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * O'Doherty, J. et al. Abstract reward and

punishment representations in the human orbitofrontal cortex. _Nat. Neurosci._ 4, 95–102 (2001). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Camille, N. et al. The involvement of the orbitofrontal

cortex in the experience of regret. _Science_ 304, 1167–1170 (2004). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Corlett, P.R. et al. Prediction error during retrospective revaluation of causal

associations in humans: fMRI evidence in favor of an associative model of learning. _Neuron_ 44, 877–888 (2004). CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Schultz, W., Dayan, P. & Montague, P.R. A

neural substrate of prediction and reward. _Science_ 275, 1593–1599 (1997). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Miceli, M. & Castelfranchi, C. The mind and the future: The (negative) power

of expectations. _Theory Psychol._ 12, 335–366 (2002). Article  Google Scholar  * Peyron, R., Laurent, B. & Garcia-Larrea, L. Functional imaging of brain responses to pain. A review and

meta-analysis. _Neurophysiol. Clin._ 30, 263–288 (2000). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Gobel, S.M., Johansen-Berg, H., Behrens, T. & Rushworth, M.F.S. Response-selection-related

parietal activation during number comparison. _J. Cogn. Neurosci._ 16, 1536–1551 (2004). Article  Google Scholar  * Tobler, P.N., Fiorillo, C.D. & Schultz, W. Adaptive coding of reward

value by dopamine neurons. _Science_ 307, 1642–1645 (2005). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Dreher, J.C., Kohn, P. & Berman, K.F. Neural coding of distinct statistical properties of

reward information in humans. _Cereb. Cortex_ (in the press). * Holroyd, C.B. et al. Dorsal anterior cingulated cortex shows fMRIresponse to internal and external error signal. _Nat.

Neurosci._ 7, 497–498 (2004). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Shidara, M. & Richmond, B.J. Anterior cingulated: single neuronal signal related to degree of reward expectancy. _Science_

296, 1709–1711 (2002). Article  Google Scholar  * Berns, G.S., McClure, S.M., Pagnoni, G. & Montague, P.R. Predictability modulates human brain response to reward. _J. Neurosci._ 21,

2793–2798 (2001). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Gottfried, J.A., O'Doherty, J. & Dolan, R.J. Encoding predictive reward value in human amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex. _Science_

301, 1104–1107 (2003). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Elliott, R., Newman, J.L., Longe, O.A. & Deakin, J.F. Differential response patterns in the striatum and orbitofrontal cortex to

financial reward in humans: a parametric functional magnetic resonance imaging study. _J. Neurosci._ 23, 303–307 (2003). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Bechara, A., Tranel, D. &

Damasio, H. Characterization of the decision-making deficit of patients with ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions. _Brain_ 123, 2189–2202 (2000). Article  Google Scholar  * Schoenbaum, G.,

Chiba, A.A. & Gallagher, M. Orbitofrontal cortex and basolateral amygdala encode experience outcomes during learning. _Nat. Neurosci._ 1, 155–159 (1998). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  *

Rolls, E.T., Hornak, J., Wade, D. & McGrath, J. Emotion-related learning in patients with social and emotional changes associated with frontal lobe damage. _J. Neurol. Neurosurg.

Psychiatry_ 57, 1518–1524 (1994). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Dorris, M.C. & Glimcher, P.W. Activity in posterior parietal cortex is correlated with the relative subjective

desirability of action. _Neuron_ 44, 365–378 (2004). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Bush, G., Phan, L. & Posner, M.I. Cognitive and emotional influences in anterior cingulate cortex.

_Trends Cogn. Sci._ 4, 215–222 (2000). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Critchley, H.D. The human cortex responds to an interoceptive challenge. _Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA_ 101, 6333–6334

(2004). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Carter, C.S., Botvinick, M.M. & Cohen, J.D. The contribution of the anterior cingulate cortex to executive processes in cognition. _Rev.

Neurosci._ 10, 49–57 (1999). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Kiehl, K.A., Liddle, P.F. & Hopfinger, J.B. Error processing and the rostral anterior cingulate: an event-related fMRI study.

_Psychophysiology_ 37, 216–223 (2000). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Garavan, H., Ross, T.J., Murphy, K., Roche, R.A. & Stein, E.A. Dissociable executive functions in the dynamic

control of behavior: inhibition, error detection, and correction. _Neuroimage_ 17, 1820–1829 (2002). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Kerns, J.G. et al. Anterior cingulate conflict monitoring

and adjustments in control. _Science_ 303, 1023–1026 (2004). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Lane, R.D. et al. Neural correlates of levels of emotional awareness. Evidence of an interaction

between emotion and attention in the anterior cingulate cortex. _J. Cogn. Neurosci._ 10, 525–535 (1998). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Phan, K.L., Liberzon, I., Welsh, R.C., Britton, J.C.

& Taylor, S.F. Habituation of rostral anterior cingulate cortex to repeated emotionally salient pictures. _Neuropsychopharmacology_ 28, 1344–1350 (2003). Article  Google Scholar  *

Critchley, H.D. et al. Activity in the human brain predicting differential heart rate responses to emotional facial expressions. _Neuroimage_ 24, 751–762 (2005). Article  Google Scholar  *

Critchley, H.D. et al. Human cingulate cortex and autonomic control: converging neuroimaging and clinical evidence. _Brain_ 126, 2139–2152 (2003). Article  Google Scholar  * Deichmann, R.,

Gottfried, J.A., Hutton, C. & Turner, R. Optimized EPI for fMRI studies of the orbitofrontal cortex. _Neuroimage_ 19, 430–441 (2003). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  Download references

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was supported by grants from the Human Frontier Science Program (RGP 56/2005), the Action Concertée Incitative, Systemes Complexes from the Centre National de la

Recherche Scientifique to A.S. and G.C., the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior to M.J., a Wellcome Trust Programme Grant to R.J.D. and a Wellcome Senior Fellowship

in Clinical Science to H.D.C. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Neuropsychology Group, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 67

Boulevard Pinel 69675, Bron, France Giorgio Coricelli, Mateus Joffily & Angela Sirigu * Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, 12 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK Hugo D

Critchley, John P O'Doherty & Raymond J Dolan Authors * Giorgio Coricelli View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Hugo D Critchley

View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Mateus Joffily View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar *

John P O'Doherty View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Angela Sirigu View author publications You can also search for this author

inPubMed Google Scholar * Raymond J Dolan View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHORS Correspondence to Angela Sirigu or

Raymond J Dolan. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY FIGURE 1 Activity at choice in

partial-feedback choose (PC) condition when subjects chose minimizing future disappointment vs. maximization of expected values. (PDF 132 kb) SUPPLEMENTARY FIGURE 2 Activity at choice in

complete-feedback choose (CC) condition when subjects chose minimizing future regret vs. maximization of expected values. (PDF 130 kb) SUPPLEMENTARY FIGURE 3 Smoothed normalized EPI images

and corresponding locations in a normalized structural template image. (PDF 216 kb) SUPPLEMENTARY TABLE 1 Pairs of gambles used in the fMRI experiment. (PDF 60 kb) RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS

Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Coricelli, G., Critchley, H., Joffily, M. _et al._ Regret and its avoidance: a neuroimaging study of choice behavior. _Nat

Neurosci_ 8, 1255–1262 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1514 Download citation * Received: 29 April 2005 * Accepted: 11 July 2005 * Published: 07 August 2005 * Issue Date: 01 September 2005

* DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1514 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not

currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative