GRAY MATTER VOLUME PREDICTS RISK TOLERANCE
There is a link between our
brain structure and our tolerance of risk, new research suggests. Dr Agnieszka
Tymula, an economist at the University of Sydney, is one of the lead authors of
a new study that identifies what might be considered the first stable
'biomarker' for financial risk-attitudes.
Using a whole-brain
analysis, Dr Tymula and international collaborators found that the grey matter
volume of a region in the right posterior parietal cortex was significantly
predictive of individual risk attitudes. Men and women with higher grey matter
volume in this region exhibited less risk aversion.
"Individual risk
attitudes are correlated with the grey matter volume in the posterior parietal
cortex suggesting existence of an anatomical biomarker for financial
risk-attitude," said Dr Tymula.
This means tolerance
of risk "could potentially be measured in billions of existing medical
brain scans."
But she has cautioned
against making a causal link between brain structure and behaviour. More
research will be needed to establish whether structural changes in the brain
lead to changes in risk attitude or whether that individual's risky choices
alter his or her brain structure -- or both.
"The findings fit
nicely with our previous findings on risk attitude and ageing. In ourProceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences 2013 paper we found that as people
age they become more risk averse," she said.
"From other work
we know that cortex thins substantially as we age. It is possible that changes
in risk attitude over lifespan are caused by thinning of the cortex."
Study participants
included young adult men and women from the northeastern United States.
Participants made a series of choices between monetary lotteries that varied in
their degree of risk, and the research team conducted standard anatomical MRI
brain scans. The results were first obtained in a group of 28 participants, and
then confirmed in a second, independent, group of 33 participants.
The study was a
collaboration of researchers from the University of Sydney, Yale, University
College London, New York University, and the University of Pennsylvania. In
addition to Tymula, authors include Sharon Gilaie-Dotan, Ifat Levy, Nicole
Cooper, Joseph W. Kable, and Paul W. Glimcher.
The findings are
published in the September 10 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
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