Brain activity predicts our choices

A study led by UCL's Tali Sharot published today in the Journal of Neuroscience has found that your brain may know what you prefer before you do. Sharot, a British Academy postdoctoral fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL, has showed that when people rate options similarly, they will choose the one that causes more activation in the caudate nucleus, a brain region involved in anticipating reward.The study also demonstrated that after a decision is made, caudate nucleus activity increases for the selected option and decreases for the rejected one. The findings help to explain a classic finding in psychology. In 1956, psychologists showed that after choosing between two similar home appliances, women subsequently claimed that the one they picked was better and the one they rejected was worse than they originally thought. In the current study, the researchers used functional brain imaging to explain why people reevaluate their options after making decisions. The research team included UCL's Professor Ray Dolan, the director of the centre, and Benedetto De Martino. The researchers imaged people's brains as they imagined taking holidays in 80 different destinations around the world.