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Thirst-dependent risk preferences in monkeys identify a primitive form of wealth.

ABSTRACT: Experimental economic techniques have been widely used to evaluate human risk attitudes, but how these measured attitudes relate to overall individual wealth levels is unclear. Previous noneconomic work has addressed this uncertainty in animals by asking the following: (i) Do our close evolutionary relatives share both our risk attitudes and our degree of economic rationality? And (ii) how does the amount of food or water one holds (a nonpecuniary form of "wealth") alter risk attitudes in these choosers? Unfortunately, existing noneconomic studies have provided conflicting insights from an economic point of view. We therefore used standard techniques from human experimental economics to measure monkey risk attitudes for water rewards as a function of blood osmolality (an objective measure of how much water the subjects possess). Early in training, monkeys behaved randomly, consistently violating first-order stochastic dominance and monotonicity. After training, they behaved like human choosers--technically consistent in their choices and weakly risk averse (i.e., risk averse or risk neutral on average)--suggesting that well-trained monkeys can serve as a model for human choice behavior. As with attitudes about money in humans, these risk attitudes were strongly wealth dependent; as the animals became "poorer," risk aversion increased, a finding incompatible with some models of wealth and risk in human decision making.

SUBMITTER: Yamada H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3785724 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Thirst-dependent risk preferences in monkeys identify a primitive form of wealth.

Yamada Hiroshi H Tymula Agnieszka A Louie Kenway K Glimcher Paul W PW

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20130909 39

Experimental economic techniques have been widely used to evaluate human risk attitudes, but how these measured attitudes relate to overall individual wealth levels is unclear. Previous noneconomic work has addressed this uncertainty in animals by asking the following: (i) Do our close evolutionary relatives share both our risk attitudes and our degree of economic rationality? And (ii) how does the amount of food or water one holds (a nonpecuniary form of "wealth") alter risk attitudes in these ...[more]

PMID: 24019461

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Project description:Aim and objectivesThis study investigated the incidence of thirst and contributing factors in intensive care unit (ICU) patients by analysing differences in physiologic, psychological, and disease- and environment-related parameters in ICU patients with vs without thirst.BackgroundLittle is known about the factors that influence thirst, and there are no standardised methods for identifying at-risk patients in the ICU. Previous studies generalised the risk of thirst in ICU patients because of a lack of data on relevant variables. Here, we examined the factors contributing to thirst based on symptom management theory.DesignProspective descriptive design.MethodsPhysiologic, psychological, disease-related and environment-related data were collected for 301 patients from 4 ICUs (medical, surgical, cardiac and emergency ICUs) of a hospital from 15 December 2017-10 July 2019 through a screening interview, questionnaires and from electronic medical records. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics, the t-test and chi-squared test, and by logistic regression. Binary stepwise logistic regression was used to identify thirst-associated factors. The findings are reported according to the STROBE checklist for cross-sectional studies.ResultsIn total, 210/301 (69.8%) ICU patients experienced thirst. Risk factors were nil per os order (odds ratio [OR] = 4.10, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.44-11.69), surgery (OR = 2.96, 95% CI: 1.11-7.93), high glucose (OR = 3.36, 95% CI: 1.01-11.17) and greater disease severity (OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.02-1.24).ConclusionThirst is common in ICU patients. Timely detection of patients' thirst and identification of those at high risk by ICU nurses can ensure the implementation of effective and safe interventions.Relevance to clinical practiceThe results of this study highlight the need to evaluate thirst symptoms in patients with severe disease and develop relief strategies for fasting, perioperative, and hyperglycaemic patients and others who are at high risk of thirst.

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Thirst-dependent risk preferences in monkeys identify a primitive form of wealth.

Publications

Thirst-dependent risk preferences in monkeys identify a primitive form of wealth.

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