Cited by 153Neural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorDecision-Making and Behavioral Economics

Neural mechanisms regulating different forms of risk-related decision-making: Insights from animal models

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Orsini, Caitlin A., Moorman, David E., Young, Jared W., Setlow, Barry, Floresco, Stan B.·2015·Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

Abstract

Over the past 20 years there has been a growing interest in the neural underpinnings of cost/benefit decision-making. Recent studies with animal models have made considerable advances in our understanding of how different prefrontal, striatal, limbic and monoaminergic circuits interact to promote efficient risk/reward decision-making, and how dysfunction in these circuits underlies aberrant decision-making observed in numerous psychiatric disorders. This review will highlight recent findings from studies exploring these questions using a variety of behavioral assays, as well as molecular, pharmacological, neurophysiological, and translational approaches. We begin with a discussion of how neural systems related to decision subcomponents may interact to generate more complex decisions involving risk and uncertainty. This is followed by an overview of interactions between prefrontal-amygdala-dopamine and habenular circuits in regulating choice between certain and uncertain rewards and how different modes of dopamine transmission may contribute to these processes. These data will be compared with results from other studies investigating the contribution of some of these systems to guiding decision-making related to rewards vs. punishment. Lastly, we provide a brief summary of impairments in risk-related decision-making associated with psychiatric disorders, highlighting recent translational studies in laboratory animals.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.04.009

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  • DA neurotransmission is essential for diverse behavioral outputs, including motivation, cognition, reward learning, decision making, salience attribution, and voluntary motor control.

    “DA neurotransmission is essential for diverse behavioral outputs, including motivation, cognition, reward learning, decision making, salience attribution, and voluntary motor control [121–127].”

    From Adolescent nicotine exposure and persistent neurocircuitry changes: unveiling lifelong psychiatric risks (2025) · cites this paper as [124]

    The “Dopamine” section describes DA’s role in risk/reward decision-making, and “Tonic and phasic dopamine signaling and decision-making” links DA signals to reward-directed choice. The paper also discusses motivational salience, but these passages do not establish the full list of functions, particularly cognition and voluntary motor control, or the broad claim that DA is essential to all of them. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The comparison of apparent risks or costs to possible reward is a computation performed by circuits supporting motivated behavior, critically including the nucleus accumbens and the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system.

    “The comparison of apparent risks or costs to possible reward is a computation performed by circuits supporting motivated behavior, critically including the NAc and the mesocorti-colimbic dopamine system (reviewed in depth elsewhere123-125).”

    From Resolving the neural circuits of anxiety (2015) · cites this paper as [124]

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. van Enkhuizen J, Geyer MA, Young JW (2013b) Differential effects of dopamine transporter inhibitors in the rodent Iowa gambling task: Relevance to mania. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 225: 661– 674. 22945515 PMC3537839

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Authors
Orsini, C. A., Moorman, D. E., Young, J. W., Setlow, B., & Floresco, S. B.
Affiliations
  • University of Florida Health (US)
  • University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
  • University of California San Diego (US)
  • University of British Columbia (CA)
Corresponding author
Floresco, Stan B.
Venue
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-11
Volume
58
Pages
147-167
ISSN
0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2214549810
Cited by
153
References
267
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 7
FWCI
1.99
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • McKnight Brain Institute
  • National Institutes of Health (R21-DA032005, R01-DA024671, R01-MH104344)
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP 89861)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
Keywords
cost-benefit decision making, reward uncertainty, habenula, dopamine signaling, striatal circuits, limbic circuits, mental illness, animal models
MeSH terms
Animals, Brain, Decision Making, Humans, Risk-Taking, Translational Research, Biomedical

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