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Published online 31 August 2005 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news050829-12
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Battle in the brain predicts risky behaviour
Pleasure and anxiety centres decide when a safe bet beats a dicey one.
Deciding between a risky financial investment and a safe one sets two parts of the brain into competition, say researchers in California.
As centres for pleasure and anxiety battle it out, a simple brain scan of the two can actually predict what a person will chose to do a few seconds before they do it: when joy beats worry in our brain, a risky decision is made.
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