An fMRI study of decision-making under sunk costs in gambling disorder

The sunk cost effect is the tendency to continue an investment, or take an action, even though it has higher future costs than benefits, if costs of time, money, or effort were previously incurred. This type of decision bias is pervasive in real life and has been studied in various disciplines. Previous studies and clinical observations suggest that decision-making under sunk costs is altered in gambling disorder (GD). However, the neural mechanisms of decision-making under sunk costs in GD remain largely unknown, and so is their association with the clinical characteristics of this patient group.

Source: European Neuropsychopharmacology - September 19, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Junya Fujino, Ryosaku Kawada, Kosuke Tsurumi, Hideaki Takeuchi, Takuro Murao, Ariyoshi Takemura, Shisei Tei, Toshiya Murai, Hidehiko Takahashi Source Type: research