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    Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation influences risk-taking behaviour

    De Maio, G. and Bottini, G. and Ferré, Elisa Raffaella (2021) Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation influences risk-taking behaviour. Neuropsychologia 160 , p. 107965. ISSN 0028-3932.

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    Abstract

    Risk-taking behaviour is an essential aspect of our interactions with the environment. Here we investigated whether vestibular inputs influence behavioural measurement of risk-taking propensity. We have combined bipolar Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) with a well-known and established risk-taking behaviour task, namely the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). A sham stimulation was used to control for non-specific effects. Left-anodal and right-cathodal GVS (L-GVS), which preferentially activates the vestibular projections in the right hemisphere, decreased the willingness to take risk during the BART compared with right-anodal and left-cathodal GVS (R-GVS), which activates the left hemisphere. This proved a specific vestibular effect which depends on GVS polarity. Conversely, no generic vestibular effect, defined as the adjusted average of L-GVS and R-GVS conditions compared to sham, emerged, excluding non-specific vestibular effects. Our results confirmed recent findings of a vestibular contribution to decision-making and strategy control behaviour. We suggest that the vestibular-mediated balancing of risk seeking behaviour is an important element of the brain's capacity to adapt to the environment.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): Vestibular system, Risk-taking behaviour, Galvanic vestibular stimulation, Behavioural control, Balloon analogue risk task
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences
    Depositing User: Elisa Raffaella Ferre
    Date Deposited: 27 Aug 2021 11:06
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 18:11
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/45528

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