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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Risk Factory"
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READER SCRIPT
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RISK VERSUS REWARD; HOW THE BRAIN PLAYS THE GAME... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. SHOULD YOU GO FOR THE NEW JOB? GET THE SURGERY? MAKE THE INVESTMENT? ROLL THE DICE? WHEN YOU'RE FACED WITH A DECISION, THAT BUILT-IN "RISK FACTORY"--YOUR BRAIN--GOES TO WORK. BUT, WHAT REALLY HAPPENS WHEN RISK OR GAMBLING GETS PROCESSED IN THERE? A TEAM OF SOME OF THE BEST BRAINS AT U-C-L-A HAS PUT TOGETHER THE FIRST NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH COMPARING HOW OUR BRAINS EVALUATE POTENTIAL GAIN VERSUS LOSS IN DECISION-MAKING. STUDY PARTICIPANTS WERE PLACED IN AN "F-M-R-I"--OR "FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC-RESONANCE IMAGING"--SCANNER, SO BRAIN FUNCTION COULD BE ANALYZED. EACH WAS GIVEN 30 DOLLARS--THEN ASKED HOW THEY WOULD BET ON SOME 250 DIFFERENT GAMBLES. REMEMBER, THE RESEARCHERS WEREN'T INTERESTED IN REACTION TO THE OUTCOME--ONLY IN HOW THE BRAIN WORKED DURING THE DECISION- MAKING PROCESS. BY ANALYZING BRAIN PATTERNS, THE TEAM DISCOVERED THAT THEY COULD ACCURATELY PREDICT HOW MUCH RISK A PERSON WOULD BE WILLING TO TAKE. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, THEY FOUND REAL EVIDENCE THAT THE BRAIN REACTS MORE TO POTENTIAL LOSSES THAN TO POTENTIAL GAINS. WHEN IT COMES TO RISKY BUSINESS, THAT LITTLE VOICE INSIDE YOUR HEAD MAY JUST WANT YOU TO THINK TWICE. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
