Ventromedial prefrontal cortex lesions impair both intertemporal and probabilistic decision-making

Neuroimaging studies suggest that a common neural mechanism exists for deciding among delayed and probabilistic rewards, yet these processes respond differently to experimental manipulations and only weakly correlate in healthy adults. Previously, individuals with ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) damage have been described as "myopic for the future" based on forgoing larger future rewards in favor of smaller immediate rewards on gambling and delay tests. However, it is unclear if impaired decision-making is due to a failure to regard outcomes that are displaced in time or in the valuation of outcomes, independent of time.