Research Hit: New Insights Into How The Brain Balances Risk and Reward

New research shows that the balancing of risk and rewards is more nuanced than previously thought

You have written before on the brain and decision-making abilities — doesn’t the orbitofrontal cortex balance risk and reward?

Yes, this is a key area in the brain’s prefrontal cortex for decision making and for balancing alternatives, particularly emotional ones. As you know I am currently writing my next chapter on the decisive brain and exploring this in much more detail.

So, this is timely research but what they found is that it is more nuanced than previously thought and discovering the precise mechanism is always exciting.

So, what is happening in the brain?

Well, previously we thought that the brain averaged out signals to give an average score of risk and reward that we decide on. But that may average different scenarios. Consider deciding on a restaurant: do you choose to got a restaurant that consistently produces good dishes or one that delivers some superb and some terrible dishes, or…