- People were presented with two snack options while having brain scans
- The results revealed that decision activity unfolds gradually over time
- Brain activity was found to be localised to the posterior medial frontal cortex
- The researchers believe the results could be used to promote health behaviours and develop more effective diet plans
Shivali Best For Mailonline
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When deciding whether to be healthy and eat an apple, or to spoil yourself with a piece of cake, your brain goes through a complex decision making process.
Researchers have shed new light on how we make every day decisions based on preference.
And the findings could be used to promote health behaviours and develop more effective diet plans.
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When deciding whether to be healthy and eat an apple, or to spoil yourself with a piece of cake, your brain goes through a complex decision making process. Researchers have shed new light on how we make every day decisions based on preference (stock image)
THE STUDY
In the study, participants were presented with pairs of snacks, like a chocolate bar and a pack of crisps, and asked to choose their preferred item.
The volunteers wore an EEG cap to measure their brain electrical activity whilst being simultaneously scanned in an MRI machine to understand precisely where the activity happens in the brain.
The results revealed that decision activity unfolds gradually over time and persists until one commits to a choice.
This brain activity was found to be localised to the posterior medial frontal cortex – a brain region that has not been previously linked directly with preference-based decisions.
Neuroscientists from the University of Glasgow believe their findings could open up new avenues for the investigation of preference-based choices in humans.
Dr Marios Philastides, who led the study, told MailOnline: ‘Our findings offer a direct window into the brain areas/signals that drive not only our eating decisions but more generally all goal-directed actions that rely on a subjective valuation of possible options.
‘One way to offer a proper intervention would be to use a form of neurofeedback that would teach participants to regulate activity in these same brains areas in an attempt to improve/optimise choices.’
Until now, it was unclear how the brain makes preference-based choices and whether it uses a mechanism similar to when we make decisions purely based on perceptual properties – like choosing the bigger of two items.
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Dr Philiastides said: ‘Our research suggests that preference-based and perceptual decisions might share a common underlying mechanism in the brain.
‘Our findings also suggest that preference-based decisions might be represented in the same brain areas that plan the action to execute the decision, i.e. the hand reaching to grab the preferred item.’
In the study, participants were presented with pairs of snacks, like a chocolate bar and a pack of crisps, and asked to choose their preferred item.
In the study, participants were presented with pairs of snacks, like a chocolate bar and a pack of crisps, and asked to choose their preferred item. The volunteers wore an EEG cap to measure their brain electrical activity
APPLYING THE FINDINGS
Dr Philiastides said: ‘Our findings have important implications for a broad range of socioeconomic problems ranging from public policy analysis, like informing health behaviours, to brain-informed advertisement strategies and product design.
‘In addition, the work can improve our understanding of mental and neurodegenerative disorders known to compromise one’s decision-making faculties, like depression, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease by offering a direct window into the brain systems involved in goal-directed choices.’
The volunteers wore an EEG cap to measure their brain electrical activity whilst being simultaneously scanned in an MRI machine to understand precisely where the activity happens in the brain.
The results revealed that decision activity unfolds gradually over time and persists until one commits to a choice.
This brain activity was found to be localised to the posterior medial frontal cortex – a brain region that has not been previously linked directly with preference-based decisions.
Mr Andrea Pisauro, first author of the study, said: ‘This is similar to when we make perceptual decisions, like choosing the larger of two slices of cake.
‘The brain accumulates information supporting one of the decision alternatives until an internal criterion is reached and a decision is made.’
During the study, participants were scanned in an MRI machine to understand precisely where the activity happens in the brain
Dr Philiastides added: ‘Our findings have important implications for a broad range of socioeconomic problems ranging from public policy analysis, like informing health behaviours, to brain-informed advertisement strategies and product design.
‘In addition, the work can improve our understanding of mental and neurodegenerative disorders known to compromise one’s decision-making faculties, like depression, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease by offering a direct window into the brain systems involved in goal-directed choices.’
The researchers even believe that the findings could lead to a drug to increase willpower.
When asked whether this was a possibility, Dr Philiastides told MailOnline: ‘Yes, possibly, though this will need to be confirmed with further experimentation.’
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