Cerebellar damage impairs the self-rating of regret feeling in a gambling task

Front. Behav. Neurosci., 2015 · DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00113 · Published: May 5, 2015

Simple Explanation

This study explores how the cerebellum, a part of the brain, affects our ability to feel and recognize regret. Regret is an emotion we experience when we make a bad decision and realize we could have done better. Researchers used a gambling game where participants had to make choices and then rate how they felt afterward. They compared people with cerebellar damage to healthy individuals to see if there were any differences in their ability to feel regret. The study found that while people with cerebellar damage could still make choices to avoid regret in the future, they had difficulty consciously recognizing and reporting the feeling of regret itself.

Study Duration

Not specified

Participants

15 patients with cerebellar damage and 15 healthy controls

Evidence Level

Not specified

Key Findings

1
Patients with cerebellar lesions were significantly impaired in evaluating the feeling of regret subjectively compared to controls.
2
Cerebellar patients, unlike those with OFC damage, could still anticipate regret and maximize expected values in their choices.
3
Skin conductance response (SCR) analysis showed that cerebellar patients had an autonomic emotional reactivity comparable to the control group, with both groups showing higher SCRs in the regret condition.

Research Summary

The study investigated the role of the cerebellum in processing regret using a gambling task with cerebellar patients and healthy controls. The key finding was that cerebellar damage impairs the self-rating of regret, even though patients could still make choices to avoid regret. The researchers suggest that the cerebellum is involved in monitoring changes in one's emotional state and comparing internal states with external events, which is crucial for representing negative emotions like regret.

Practical Implications

Social Cognition

The cerebellum plays a more significant role in social cognition and the representation of self-related feelings than previously thought.

Psychiatric Disorders

Cerebellar dysfunction may contribute to symptoms in psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and autism, where mentalization and processing of emotions are impaired.

Therapeutic Interventions

Targeting the cerebellum in therapeutic interventions may help improve emotional awareness and self-monitoring in individuals with cerebellar damage or related psychiatric conditions.

Study Limitations

1
The study population was heterogeneous in terms of the etiology of cerebellar damage.
2
The sample size was relatively small.
3
Further research is needed to identify specific cerebellar areas involved in the proposed model of regret processing.

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