Neuroscience: Risky Business.(research on risk taking behavior)(martian atmosphere)(Brief article)

Byline: Rupali Arora

Should you invest in a risky start-up company? Should you accept that better-paying but less secure job? Should you abandon your failing marriage?

How you answer depends on what kind of brain you have. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, applied functional magnetic resonance imaging to test subjects playing gambling games, and assessed their brain activity. Thinking about the possibility of winning money turns on some of the same areas of the brain as taking cocaine, eating chocolate or looking at a beautiful face. Most people are naturally cautious because their brains are wired to be more sensitive to losses than to gains. But the authors found a wide variation among individuals. "We can predict how ...