Neural Correlates of Risky Decision Making in Adolescents With and Without Traumatic Brain Injury Using the Balloon Analog Risk Task

Abstract

We studied risky decision making (RDM) in 8 healthy adolescents (TC) and 11 adolescents with mild to moderate traumatic brain injuries (TBI) using the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants inflated simulated balloons (with more points awarded to bigger balloons), which might burst at any time. Increasing brain activation levels were associated with increasing balloon size in a largely bilateral network, including cerebellar, inferior parietal, limbic, and frontal areas. Both groups performed similarly and activated similar networks.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by (1) NIH grant RO1-MH073764 from the National Institute of Mental Health (to S. Wade); (2) H133G050239 from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research in the Department of Education (to S. Wade); and (3) EMS/Trauma grant from the Ohio Department of Public Safety (to S. Wade).