Sharot, Tali, Kanai, Ryota, Marston, David, Korn, Christoph W, Rees, Geraint and Dolan, Raymond J (2012) Selectively altering belief formation in the human brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109 (42). pp. 17058-62. ISSN 1091-6490

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Humans form beliefs asymmetrically; we tend to discount bad news but embrace good news. This reduced impact of unfavorable information on belief updating may have important societal implications, including the generation of financial market bubbles, ill preparedness in the face of natural disasters, and overly aggressive medical decisions. Here, we selectively improved people's tendency to incorporate bad news into their beliefs by disrupting the function of the left (but not right) inferior frontal gyrus using transcranial magnetic stimulation, thereby eliminating the engrained "good news/bad news effect." Our results provide an instance of how selective disruption of regional human brain function paradoxically enhances the ability to incorporate unfavorable information into beliefs of vulnerability.

Item Type:	Article
Schools and Departments:	School of Psychology > Psychology
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Depositing User:	Ryota Kanai
Date Deposited:	11 Mar 2013 12:23
Last Modified:	11 Mar 2013 12:23
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/43885

📧 Request an update