NEUROSCIENCE

Parkinson’s Disease and Risky Monetary Decision-Making

ABSTRACT

Dopamine is intimately involved in decision-making, but its contributions to risky choice are incompletely understood. In Parkinson’s disease, there is a selective deficit in dopamine in the brain, allowing us to study its role. In this study, patients with Parkinson’s disease make risky monetary choices both when on medications that restore dopamine function, and when not on those medications, in a dopamine-deprived state.