Brain scans show we take risks because we can't stop ourselves


 By PATRICIA GARLAUSKY HORWELL
 FEELING Frr CORRESPONDENT

 Imagine a world where officials
could predict whether a criminal
would commit another crime.
According to researchers, that day
might not be far off.
 A team from the University of Texas
at Austin and UCLA have studied a
group of people who had their brains
scanned by an MRI while playing a
video game that replicates risk-taking
in real-life situations.
 What they found was eye-opening,
according to Sarah Helfinstein, a
post-doctoral research fellow at UT
Austin. "Actually, this was part of
a much larger study at UCLA. We
collected a large community sample
of adults from the LA area," she said.
The group used in the study consist-
ed of 108 healthy people.
 "We were very interested in why
some people engage in certain
dangerous risks experimenting
with drugs, having unprotected sex
- things like that. There is not much
research in trying to understand
what happens differently in the brain
that makes one take a risk rather
than avoid one," Helfinstein said.
 The subjects played a simple video
game during their brain scans. Each
test subject would see balloon on the
screen. Each time he would pump it
up he gets a few points. The trick is
to pump it as far as it can go without
exploding the balloon.
 One subject might be thinking he
can pump it up a little more to get
a few extra points while another
might decide to stop pumping and
avoid the risk of losing points when
it bursts. The reactions of these
subjects can be likened to what goes
on in the brain when people play slot
machines.
 What the scientists found was
staggering. By looking at how brain
patterns changed when the subjects
decided to take a risk or not they
were able to predict, with 72 percent
accuracy, which subjects were going







110 j||^


to take unwise risks in the next game.
 "We knew that whatever is going
on in the mind is cognitively similar
to what's going on when someone
is sitting in a bar thinking, 'Should
I have another beer and still drive
home?'" Helfinstein said.
 The scientists believe that perfor-
mance in this test could indicate a
proclivity toward risky behavior like
experimenting with drugs, having
unprotected sex and more. They
concluded that when we make risky
choices, it is primarily because of the
failure of our control systems to stop
us.
 The results are not definitive. "A
72-percent success rate still means
we have a one-in-four shot of getting
it wrong," Helfinstein said. "Part


of the answer is that at least when
we talk about health relevant risky
behavior there are underlying condi-
tions. How people ultimately behave
with regard to gambling or drugs has
more to do with the kinds of risks
that the people they know engage in.
The research suggests social factors
have an effect on behavior."
 More research is needed and
could focus on how external factors,
such as peer pressure, lack of sleep
or hunger alter our brains' control
systems and our decisions whether
to take unwise risks. "If we can figure
out the factors in the world that
influence the brain, we can draw
conclusions about what actions are
best at helping people resist risk,"
Helfinstein said.

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