Neuroimaging of control and substance-using subjects performing the BART has implicated a partially overlapping network of brain regions. Brain regions implicated in risk acceptance include anterior insula, anterior cingulate, dorsolateral PFC and deactivations of the ventromedial PFC.247–249 Activity in the amygdala was found to promote risk aversion after loss in the BART.249, 250 Pharmacologic inactivation studies in rats have confirmed a role for the ventromedial PFC and orbitofrontal cortex in aspects of risk-taking in the rat-BART.225 Furthermore, striatal D2/D3 dopamine receptor density was negatively correlated with the degree to which dorsolateral PFC activation was modulated by risk-taking,250 highlighting the interaction between these systems in updating potential reward values and guiding goal-directed behavior.
