Nucleus accumbens activation mediates the influence of reward cues on financial risk-taking

Brian Knutson, G. Elliott Wimmer, Camelia Kuhnen and Piotr Winkielman

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: In functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) research, nucleus accumbens (NAcc) activation spontaneously increases prior to financial risk taking. Since anticipation of diverse rewards can increase NAcc activation, even incidental reward cues may influence financial risk-taking. Using event-related FMRI, we predicted and found that anticipation of viewing rewarding stimuli (erotic pictures for 15 heterosexual males) increased financial risk taking, and that this effect was partially mediated by increases in NAcc activation. These results are consistent with the notion that incidental reward cues influence financial risk taking by altering anticipatory affect, and so identify a neuropsychological mechanism that may underlie effective emotional appeals in financial, marketing, and political domains.

Keywords: neuroeconomics; neurofinance; brain; financial risk taking; risk preferences; decision making; nucleus accumbens; striatum; reward cues; FMRI; brain imaging (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D81 G11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cfn, nep-exp, nep-neu and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (46)

Published in Neuroreport 5.19(2008): pp. 509-513

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:8013

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