Regret and disappointment: Investigations into the role of emotions in decision making.

Abstract

The present research examined the neural substrates subserving regret and disappointment and investigated the effects of regret and disappointment on future choices. Study 1 used a behavioral paradigm to distinguish the subjective experience of regret from disappointment for use in a subsequent neuroimaging experiment. Study 1 showed that regret was experienced subjectively as a more negative emotion than disappointment, and regret led to faster decision making on the next trial. Study 2 examining the neural correlates of regret and disappointment using the same paradigm. Regret and disappointment had overlapping as well as differential neural activation patterns. Both emotions activated anterior insula and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, relative to fixation. In contrast to disappointment, regret enhanced activations in the anterior insula, Brodmann's area 8, and the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Neural activation patterns corroborated the behavioral findings that the two emotions are distinct, despite sharing the similar valence. Study 3 tested the effects of regret and disappointment on subsequent decisions. Study 4 demonstrated the replicability of the neuroimaging findings in Study 2 using a somewhat different paradigm. In a behavioral experiment, Study 3 found that regret induced more risk seeking subsequently than feelings of disappointment. Feeling regretful over a previous risk-averse choice also invoked more choice switching than feeling disappointed over a prior risk-averse choice. The Study 3 task was adapted to a neuroimaging environment in Study 4. Results in Study 4 were consistent with the neuroimaging findings in Study 2. The replicability of the neuroimaging findings from Study 2 to Study 4 suggests that the neuroimaging results were relatively reliable, even with a change in paradigm. Possible explanations for the behavioral effects and the neuroimaging findings are discussed.