Abstract
Regret affects decision-making behavior, which is mediated by a cognitive process known as counterfactual thinking in economic science. Several studies indicate that orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays a crucial role in decision-making behavior. However, the neural correlates of regret trait and the function of the OFC in decision-making remain unclear. In this study, we employed a typical monetary decision-making task, a modified ‘Wheel of Fortune gamble’ paradigm, to investigate decision-making behavior and its neural mechanism. We combined voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and task-evoked functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analyses to explore the neural substrates of regret trait. VBM analyses revealed that individual Regret Scale Score was negatively associated with the gray-matter volume (GMV) in the frontal and temporal areas, including the bilateral OFC. These results indicate that individuals with high regret trait have smaller GMV in these areas. Moreover, we found stronger task-evoked activation of the left OFC in high regret trait individuals during the decision-maker’s choice (choose conditions) phase, whereas we did not find this relationship in computer-selected’s (follow conditions) choice phase. Using generalized psychophysiological interactions (PPI) analysis, we further found that the functional connectivity of the left OFC to right inferior frontal gyrus and left cerebellum was stronger in the complete feedback choose condition (under regret theoretical framework) than partial feedback choose condition (under disappointment theoretical framework). These findings verify the critical role of the OFC in the decision-making, more importantly, provide novel insights into the morphological and functional substrates of individual regret trait.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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This research was supported by Grants from National Nature Science Foundation of China (62176045), by the Programme of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (the 111 project B12027), Sichuan Province Science and Technology Innovation Cultivation Project (2022014), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (ZYGX2020FRJH014).
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We are grateful to all the participants in this study. Writing—original draft, investigation, methodology, data collection, and analysis: TZ. Data collection and resources: QZ, JW, MW, and WL. Writing—review and editing: JY, JZ, and ZJ. Supervision, funding acquisition, project administration, and writing—review & editing: LL. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Zhang, T., Zhang, Q., Wu, J. et al. The critical role of the orbitofrontal cortex for regret in an economic decision-making task. Brain Struct Funct 227, 2751–2767 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-022-02568-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-022-02568-w