The involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex in the experience of
regret.  Institut des Sciences Cognitives, CNRS, 67, Boulevard
Pinel 69675 Bron, France. Science (Impact Factor: 31.2).
06/2004; 304(5674):1167-70. DOI:10.1126/science.1094550 Source:
PubMed  ABSTRACT Facing the consequence of a decision we made
can trigger emotions like satisfaction, relief, or regret, which
reflect our assessment of what was gained as compared to what
would have been gained by making a different decision. These
emotions are mediated by a cognitive process known as
counterfactual thinking. By manipulating a simple gambling task,
we characterized a subject's choices in terms of their
anticipated and actual emotional impact. Normal subjects
reported emotional responses consistent with counterfactual
thinking; they chose to minimize future regret and learned from
their emotional experience. Patients with orbitofrontal cortical
lesions, however, did not report regret or anticipate negative
consequences of their choices. The orbitof