Dissociable influences of skewness and valence on economic choice and neural activity.

Asymmetry in distributions of potential outcomes (i.e. skewness), and whether those potential outcomes reflect gains or losses (i.e. their valence), both exert a powerful influence on value-based choice. How valence affects the impact of skewness on choice is unknown. Here by orthogonally manipulati...

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Main Authors: Nicholas D Wright, Mkael Symmonds, Laurel S Morris, Raymond J Dolan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0083454&type=printable
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author Nicholas D Wright
Mkael Symmonds
Laurel S Morris
Raymond J Dolan
author_facet Nicholas D Wright
Mkael Symmonds
Laurel S Morris
Raymond J Dolan
author_sort Nicholas D Wright
collection DOAJ
description Asymmetry in distributions of potential outcomes (i.e. skewness), and whether those potential outcomes reflect gains or losses (i.e. their valence), both exert a powerful influence on value-based choice. How valence affects the impact of skewness on choice is unknown. Here by orthogonally manipulating the skewness and valence of economic stimuli we show that both have an influence on choice. We show that the influence of skewness on choice is independent of valence, both across and within subjects. fMRI data revealed skew-related activity in bilateral anterior insula and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, which shows no interaction with valence. Further, the expression of skew-related activity depends on an individual's preference for skewness, and this was again independent of valence-related preference. Our findings highlight the importance of skewness in choice and show that its influence, both behaviourally and neurally, is distinct from an influence of valence.
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spelling doaj-art-d5b7e062d2284a348df31c10f40fc6772025-08-20T03:10:50ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032013-01-01812e8345410.1371/journal.pone.0083454Dissociable influences of skewness and valence on economic choice and neural activity.Nicholas D WrightMkael SymmondsLaurel S MorrisRaymond J DolanAsymmetry in distributions of potential outcomes (i.e. skewness), and whether those potential outcomes reflect gains or losses (i.e. their valence), both exert a powerful influence on value-based choice. How valence affects the impact of skewness on choice is unknown. Here by orthogonally manipulating the skewness and valence of economic stimuli we show that both have an influence on choice. We show that the influence of skewness on choice is independent of valence, both across and within subjects. fMRI data revealed skew-related activity in bilateral anterior insula and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, which shows no interaction with valence. Further, the expression of skew-related activity depends on an individual's preference for skewness, and this was again independent of valence-related preference. Our findings highlight the importance of skewness in choice and show that its influence, both behaviourally and neurally, is distinct from an influence of valence.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0083454&type=printable
spellingShingle Nicholas D Wright
Mkael Symmonds
Laurel S Morris
Raymond J Dolan
Dissociable influences of skewness and valence on economic choice and neural activity.
PLoS ONE
title Dissociable influences of skewness and valence on economic choice and neural activity.
title_full Dissociable influences of skewness and valence on economic choice and neural activity.
title_fullStr Dissociable influences of skewness and valence on economic choice and neural activity.
title_full_unstemmed Dissociable influences of skewness and valence on economic choice and neural activity.
title_short Dissociable influences of skewness and valence on economic choice and neural activity.
title_sort dissociable influences of skewness and valence on economic choice and neural activity
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0083454&type=printable
work_keys_str_mv AT nicholasdwright dissociableinfluencesofskewnessandvalenceoneconomicchoiceandneuralactivity
AT mkaelsymmonds dissociableinfluencesofskewnessandvalenceoneconomicchoiceandneuralactivity
AT laurelsmorris dissociableinfluencesofskewnessandvalenceoneconomicchoiceandneuralactivity
AT raymondjdolan dissociableinfluencesofskewnessandvalenceoneconomicchoiceandneuralactivity