Brain Location For Losing Money Fear?

February 10th, 2010

Isn’t it incredible that something such as being afraid of losing money could possibly be pinpointed in the brain? The first thing I thought when I saw this article was: “You gotta be joking…”.

While the test wasn’t specifically designed to discover why people fear losing money, it makes a nice headline. The tests were designed to find the origins of loss aversion.

Loss aversion describes the avoidance of choices which can lead to losses, even when accompanied by equal or much larger gains. I’m sure you can think of many examples. Things such as having, or avoiding surgery. Buying, or not buying a couple electric fireplaces. Gambling on a garbage sports team like the Detroit Lions (My team )

Dr Benedetto De Martino, a Sir Henry Wellcome Trust Postdoctoral Fellow and first author of the report, explains: “Imagine you’re on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. You’ve just answered the £500,000 question correctly and have moved on to the final question. You’re down to your 50:50 lifeline but don’t know the answer. If you get it right, you’ll win £1 million; if you get it wrong, you’ll drop back to £32,000. The vast majority of people would take the ‘loss averse option’ and walk away with £500,000.”

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Filed under: Biology by JMH

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3 Responses to “Brain Location For Losing Money Fear?”

Kerala Girls :, on October 27th, 2010 at 7:46 pm Said:

i would still prefer to use the traditional log based fireplaces compared to electric firepalces,*,
Symbom Plush and Cloth Toys, on August 12th, 2011 at 3:25 am Said:

You have a good ponit there. Thanks for sharing.
Hongqiao Plain Polyester Fabric, on August 12th, 2011 at 5:41 am Said:

Yes or no, it’s a question worthing thinking about. The article provides a different angle of this issue.

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