Open AccessNeural mechanisms underlying urgent and evaluative behaviors: An fMRI study on the interaction of automatic and controlled processes
Author(s) -
Megías Alberto,
Navas Juan Francisco,
Petrova Dafina,
Cándido Antonio,
Maldonado Antonio,
GarciaRetamero Rocio,
Catena Andrés
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.22812
Subject(s) - psychology , cognitive psychology , dissociation (chemistry) , heuristics , cognition , perception , task (project management) , context (archaeology) , neural correlates of consciousness , process (computing) , dual (grammatical number) , computer science , neuroscience , paleontology , art , chemistry , literature , management , economics , biology , operating system
Dual‐process theories have dominated the study of risk perception and risk‐taking over the last two decades. However, there is a lack of objective brain‐level evidence supporting the two systems of processing in every‐day risky behavior. To address this issue, we propose the dissociation between evaluative and urgent behaviors as evidence of dual processing in risky driving situations. Our findings show a dissociation of evaluative and urgent behavior both at the behavioral and neural level. fMRI data showed an increase of activation in areas implicated in motor programming, emotional processing, and visuomotor integration in urgent behavior compared to evaluative behavior. These results support a more automatic processing of risk in urgent tasks, relying mainly on heuristics and experiential appraisal. The urgent task, which is characterized by strong time pressure and the possibility for negative consequences among others factors, creates a suitable context for the experiential‐affective system to guide the decision‐making process. Moreover, we observed greater frontal activation in the urgent task, suggesting the participation of cognitive control in safe behaviors. The findings of this research are relevant for the study of the neural mechanisms underlying dual process models in risky perception and decision‐making, especially because of their proximity to everyday activities. Hum Brain Mapp 36:2853–2864, 2015 . © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.