FIGURE 3.5
Somatic Markers of Risk
After playing a gambling game with both a high-risk and a low-risk deck of cards, most people (the controls) exhibit higher arousal just before selecting from the risky deck. Over time they learn to avoid these risky choices. Patients with ventromedial damage to the prefrontal cortex do not show this arousal and do not learn to avoid the risk.

[Data source: Bechara et al. (1996)]