The value of exercising control over monetary gains and losses

摘要

Using fMRI, we examined how the affective experience of choice, the means by which individuals exercise control, is modulated by the valence of potential outcomes (gains, losses). When trials involved potential gains, participants reported liking cues predicting a choice opportunity better than cues predicting no-choice – an effect that corresponded with BOLD increases in ventral striatum (VS). Surprisingly, no differences were observed between choice and no-choice cues when anticipating potential losses. Individual differences in subjective choice preference in the loss condition, however, corresponded to choice-related BOLD activity in the VS. We conducted a second study to examine if monetary losses were perceived differently in the context of simultaneous gains. Participants reported greater liking of choice trials and greater choice cue-related VS activity. Collectively, the findings suggest that the affective experience of choice involves reward processing circuitry when anticipating appetitive and aversive outcomes, but may be sensitive to context and individual differences.