Sequential Involvement of Distinct Portions of the Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Different Stages of Decision Making Using the Iowa Gambling Task

ABSTRACT

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess the temporal response of neural activation in healthy subjects while they performed the Iowa Gambling Test (IGT), which utilizes decisions involving ambiguity and risk. The IGT was divided into five blocks of 20 trials; analysis showed that activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) moves gradually from the dorsal to the ventral mPFC over the course of the IGT. These findings suggest that cognitive division of the mPFC, including the dorsal portion of the anterior cingulated cortex (ACC), plays a major role in ambiguous decision making and that the aspect of the IGT corresponding to risky decision making is associated with significant activity within the corticolimbic network strongly implicated in emotion and reinforcement. Our results also suggest that decisions made under ambiguity and decisions made under risk situations can be further divided into sub-phases based on the neural network involved.