Functionally similar yet distinct neural mechanisms underlie different choice behaviors: ALE meta-analyses of decision-making under risk in adolescents and adults

Abstract

Decision-making under risk is crucial for everyday life. Nevertheless, despite a large effort to identify the nature of decision-making under risk, the neural mechanisms underlying the selection of safe or risky choices remain unclear. To address this issue, the author conducted activation likelihood estimation meta-analyses of 59 functional magnetic resonance imaging studies (1,916 participants; age range, 11.2–70 years; 791 activation foci; 106 experimental contrasts). Results showed that common brain regions, including the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), insula, and middle portion of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (mid-dACC), subserved both safe and risky choices. While safe choices engaged the left mid-dACC more, risky choices engaged the left insula more along with the additional recruitment of the dorsal striatum (putamen, pallidum, caudate), representing distinctions between safe and risky choices. For age effects, adolescents compared with adults were associated more with the right LPFC when selecting safe choices and associated more with the left insula and bilateral dorsal striatum (putamen, pallidum, caudate) when selecting risky choices. Adults compared with adolescents were associated more with the right mid-dACC when selecting risky choices. These findings can be interpreted by drawing on the major developmental theories of decision-making under risk, such as dual-systems model (cognitive control and emotional arousal) and a different theory emphasizing changes in cognitive strategies with development. Although brain activations across tasks in decision processes were identified, along with developmental differences, future ALE analyses should distinguish task factors more cleanly to make firmer conclusions, including distinguishing gain versus loss and risk versus reward.