Possession Is Nine-Tenths the Perce...(ings make sense. And he lauded the eff...),Health

"Understanding the brain mechanisms that lead to decision-making is important for appreciating how difficult it can be to break bad habits," he said. "And appreciating these difficulties is key to developing intervention strategies to help people learn how to make better decisions."

Dr. Eric Hollander, chairman of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, seconded the notion.

"A lot of health-care costs are associated with bad behavior," he observed. "But it's very hard to get people to change bad behavior. Some people are compulsively risk-averse and extremely focused on warding off future loss, while others are much more impulsive and act mostly on the basis of immediate gratification, despite future negative consequences. Extremes in both categories can be problematic, so you want to help people achieve an optimal balance between the two. And these kinds of brain-imaging studies are very important in improving our understanding of the brain's role in all of this, and pointing us toward good ways to intervene."

More information

For more details on the brain and economic decisions, visit the PBS NewsHour.

SOURCES: Brian Knutson, Ph.D., assistant professor, department of psychology and neuroscience, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.; Eric Hollander, M.D., professor and chairman, psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City; Paul Sanberg, M.D, Ph.D., professor, neuroscience, and director, Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa; June 12, 2008, Neuron