Effects of beta-adrenoceptor blockade on components of human decision-making

Abstract

Converging evidence from studies with neurological patients and brain imaging studies with healthy volunteers suggests that the capacity to make choices between actions associated with probabilistic rewards and punishments depends upon a network of cortico-limbic systems including the orbitofrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, amygdala and striatum. The involvement of such structures highlights the emotional aspects of decision-making and suggests that decision-making may be sensitive to manipulations of the catecholamine systems that innervate these structures. In this study, we investigated the possible role of noradrenaline (NA).