Probing the Influence of Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation on Risk-Taking: A Replication and Extension Study

The vestibular system is primarily associated with functions like stabilizing the retinal image, balance, and spatial orientation, but evidence suggests that vestibular information might also modulate cognitive functions such as general decision-making. Using galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), behavioral modulations have been shown to depend on the stimulation polarity, consequently challenging an established view of vestibular processing. The current study aimed to replicate and extend the findings of De Maio and colleagues (2021), in which a polarity-specific GVS effect was reported in the context of risk-taking. GVS was delivered with different polarity configurations (left-anodal/right-cathodal, right-anodal/left-anodal) to 37 participants while they performed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) of the original study and an additional risk-taking task (Game of Dice Task). Polarity-specific effects were absent in both tasks. Our results indicate that the polarity-specific effects observed in the original study are likely caused by order effects and small samples rather than the vestibular stimulation.