Editing Sunk cost (section)

== Neuroeconomics & neuroscience approaches to study sunk costs ==
In recent years, there has been a resurgence in studies of how the brain processes information with respect to sunk costs. Measuring sensitivity to sunk costs in laboratory studies can be challenging, as it is often difficult to disentangle the influence of sunk costs from future returns on investment. In a cross-species study in humans, rats, and mice, Sweis et al<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1126/science.aar8644| volume = 361| issue = 6398| pages = 178–181| last1 = Sweis| first1 = Brian| title = Sensitivity to "sunk costs" in mice, rats, and humans| journal = Science| date = 2018| pmid = 30002252| pmc = 6377599| bibcode = 2018Sci...361..178S}}</ref> discovered a conserved evolutionary history to sensitivity to sunk costs across species.

This has opened up more questions as to what might the evolutionary drivers be behind why the brain is capable of processing information in this way, what utility, if any, sensitivity to sunk costs may confer, and how might distinct circuits in the brain<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.10.038| volume = 112| issue = 3| pages = 500–514|  last1 = Eshel| first1 = Neir | title = Striatal dopamine integrates cost, benefit, and motivation| journal = Neuron| date = 2024| pmid = 38016471| pmc = 10922131}}</ref> give rise to this sort of valuation depending on the framing of the question, circumstances of the environment, or state of the individual.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.10.038| volume = 8| issue = 102|  last1 = Nwakama| first1 = Chinonso| title = Neuroeconomically dissociable forms of mental accounting are altered in a mouse model of diabetes
| journal = Communications Biology| date = 2025| pmid = 39838110| url = https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-07500-6
| pmc = 10922131}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1038/s42003-022-04235-6| volume = 5| issue = 1337|  last1 = Redish| first1 = A. David| title = Sunk cost sensitivity during change-of-mind decisions is informed by both the spent and remaining costs
| journal = Communications Biology| date = 2022| page = 1337| pmid = 36474069| pmc = 9726928}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.604843| volume = 12|  last1 = Kazinka| first1 = Rebecca| title = Sensitivity to Sunk Costs Depends on Attention to the Delay| journal = Frontiers in Psychology| date = 2021| doi-access = free| pmid = 33692720| pmc = 7937795}}</ref> Ongoing work is characterizing how neurons encode sensitivity to sunk costs, how sunk costs appear only after certain types of choices, and how sunk costs could contribute to mood burden.