Nervenheilkunde 2011; 30(06): 411-418
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1628371
Soziale Neurowissenschaften
Schattauer GmbH

Game Theory and the brain

Neural modulation and lesion studies as a tool to examine interpersonal decision-makingSpieltheorie und das Gehirn
M. van 't Wout
1   Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence RI 02912, USA
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Eingegangen am: 20 August 2010

angenommen am: 31 August 2010

Publication Date:
22 January 2018 (online)

Summary

What is the neural basis of why you trust one person, but not the other? How do emotions in response to unfairness guide our interactions? What are the neural responses associated with cooperation? The field of social neuroeconomics aims to answer these and other questions to better understand the neural circuitry of decision-making in social interactions. In addition to neuroimaging studies, which can give insight into a possible correlation between brain activation and a cognitive process, (virtual) lesion studies allow drawing causal inferences about the role of a particular brain area in the social decisionmaking process. This paper will review some of the more recent findings on the neural basis of fairness, trust and cooperation identified using neuroimaging or lesion studies.

Zusammenfassung

Was ist die neuronale Grundlage, warum man einer Person vertraut, einer anderen aber nicht? Wie beeinflussen Emotionen als eine Reaktion auf Ungerechtigkeit unsere Interaktionen? Wie sind die neuronalen Reaktionen verbunden mit einer Zusammenarbeit? Der Bereich der sozialen Neuroökonomie sollte diese und andere Fragen beantworten, um ein besseres Verständnis des neuronalen Kreislaufs der Entscheidungsfindung in sozialen Interaktionen zu bekommen. Zusätzlich zu Studien mit bildgebenden Verfahren, die Einblick in einen möglichen Zusammenhang zwischen Gehirnaktivierung und einem kognitivem Prozess geben können, ermöglichen (virtuelle) Läsionsstudien Bilder von kausalen Rückschlüssen über die Rolle eines bestimmten Hirnareals in sozialen Entscheidungsprozessen. In diesem Artikel werden einige der neuen Erkenntnisse über die neuronalen Grundlagen von Gerechtigkeit, Vertrauen und Zusammenarbeit kenntlich gemacht und mithilfe von Bildgebung oder Läsionsstudien überprüft.

 
  • References

  • 1 Adolphs R. Cognitive neuroscience of human social behaviour. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2003; 04 (03) 165.
  • 2 Adolphs R. et al. Recognition of facial emotion in nine individuals with bilateral amygdala damage. Neuropsychologia 1999; 37 (10) 1111-7.
  • 3 Agay N. et al. Ultimatum bargaining behavior of people affected by schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research 2008; 157 (1–3): 39-46.
  • 4 Anderson AK, Phelps EA. Lesions of the human amygdala impair enhanced perception of emotionally salient events. Nature 2001; 411 (6835): 305-9.
  • 5 Anderson SW. et al. Long-term sequelae of prefrontal cortex damage acquired in early childhood. Developmental Neuropsychology 2000; 18 (03) 281-96.
  • 6 Axelrod R, Hamilton WD. The evolution of cooperation. Science 1981; 211 (4489): 1390-1396.
  • 7 Baumgartner T. et al. Oxytocin shapes the neural circuitry of trust and trust adaptation in humans. Neuron 2008; 58 (04) 639-50.
  • 8 Bechara A, Damasio AR. The somatic marker hypothesis: A neural theory of economic decision. Games and Economic Behavior 2005; 52 (02) 336-72.
  • 9 Bechara A. et al. Different contributions of the human amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex to decision-making. The Journal of Neuroscience: the Official Journal of the Society For Neuroscience 1999; 19 (13) 5473-81.
  • 10 Berg J, Dickhaut J, McCabe K. Trust, reciprocity, and social history. Games and Economic Behavior 1995; 10 (01) 122-42.
  • 11 Bouscein W. Electrodermal activity. New York: Plenum Press; 1992
  • 12 Brüne M. Emotion recognition, ‘theory of mind,’ and social behavior in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research 2005; 133 (2–3): 135-47.
  • 13 Brunet-Gouet E, Decety J. Social brain dysfunctions in schizophrenia: A review of neuroimaging studies. Psychiatry Research – Neuroimaging 2006; 148 (2–3): 75.
  • 14 Camerer CF. Behavioral game theory. New York: Russell Sage Foundation; 2003
  • 15 Carter SC. Neyroendocrine perspectives on social attachment and love. Psychoneuroendocrinology 1998; 23 (08) 779-818.
  • 16 Crockett MJ. et al. Serotonin modulates behavioral reactions to unfairness. Science 2008; 320 (5884) 1739.
  • 17 Damasio A. Descartes’ error: emotion, reason, and the human brain. New York: Grosset/Putnam; 1994
  • 18 Damasio H. et al. The return of Phineas Gage: clues about the brain from the skull of a famous patient. Science 1994; 264 (5162): 1102-5.
  • 19 Delgado MR, Frank RH, Phelps EA. Perceptions of moral character modulate the neural systems of reward during the trust game. Nature Neuroscience 2005; 08 (11) 1611-8.
  • 20 Dunbar RIM. The social brain hypothesis. Evolutionary Anthropology 1998; 178-90.
  • 21 Dunbar RIM, Shultz S. Evolution in the social brain. Science 2007; 317 (5843): 1344-7.
  • 22 Eslinger PJ. et al. Oops! Resolving social dilemmas in frontotemporal dementia. Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry 2007; 78 (05) 457-60.
  • 23 Fitzgerald PB, Fountain S, Daskalakis ZJ. A comprehensive review of the effects of rTMS on motor cortical excitability and inhibition. Clinical Neurophysiology 2006; 117 (12) 2584-96.
  • 24 Frank MJ. et al. Hold your horses: Impulsivity, deep brain stimulation, and medication in Parkinsonism. Science 2007; 318: 1309-12.
  • 25 Frith CD, Frith U. Interacting minds – a biological basis. Science 1999; 286 (5445): 1692-5.
  • 26 Frith U, Frith CD. Development and neurophysiology of mentalizing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Biological Sciences 2003; V358 (1431): 459.
  • 27 Fuster JM. The prefrontal cortex – an update: Time is of the essence. Neuron 2001; 30 (02) 319-33.
  • 28 Gallagher HL. et al. Imaging the intentional stance in a competitive game. NeuroImage 2002; 16: 814-21.
  • 29 Gallese V, Keysers C, Rizzolatti G. A unifying view of the basis of social cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2004; 08 (09) 396-403.
  • 30 Greene JD. et al. An fMRI investigation of emotional engagement in moral judgment. Science 2001; 293 (5537): 2105-8.
  • 31 Guth W, Schmittberger R, Schwarze B. An experimental analysis of ultimatum bargaining. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 1982; 03: 367-88.
  • 32 Hare RD. Psychopaths and their nature: Implications for the mental health and criminal justice systems. In: Millon T. et al. Psychopahty: Antisocial, criminal and violent behavior. New York: Guildford Press 1989.;
  • 33 Harlow JM. Recovery from the passage of an iron bar through the head. Pub Mass Med Soc. 1868 2327.
  • 34 Hoffman E. et al. Preference, property rights, and anonymity in bargaining games. Games and Economic Behavior 1994; 07: 346-80.
  • 35 Hoffman E, McCabe K, Smith VL. Social distance and other-regarding behavior in dictator games. American Economic Review 1996; 86: 653-60.
  • 36 Keri S, Kiss I, Kelemen O. Sharing secrets: Oxytocin and trust in schizophrenia. Social Neuroscience 2009; 04 (04) 287-93.
  • 37 King-Casas B. et al. Getting to know you: Reputation and trust in a two-person economic exchange. Science 2005; 308 (5718): 78-83.
  • 38 Knoch D. et al. A neural marker of costly punishment behavior. Psychological Science 2010; 21 (03) 337-42.
  • 39 Knoch D. et al. Studying the neurobiology of social interaction with transcranial direct current stimulation – the example of punishing unfairness. Cerebral Cortex 2008; 18: 1987-90.
  • 40 Knoch D. et al. Diminishing reciprocal fairness by disrupting the right prefrontal cortex. Science 2006; 314 (5800): 829-32.
  • 41 Knutson B, Cooper JC. Functional magnetic resonance imaging of reward prediction. Current Opinion in Neurology 2005; 18 (04) 411-7.
  • 42 Koenigs M, Tranel D. Irrational economic decisionmaking after ventromedial prefrontal damage: Evidence from the ultimatum game. Journal of Neuroscience 2007; 27 (04) 951-6.
  • 43 Koenigs M. et al. Damage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgements. Nature 2007; 446 (7138): 908-11.
  • 44 Kosfeld M. et al. Oxytocin increases trust in humans. Nature 2005; 435 (7042): 673-6.
  • 45 LeDoux JE. Emotion circuits in the brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience 2000; 23: 155-84.
  • 46 Levkovitz Y. et al. A randomized controlled feasibility and safety study of deep transcranial magnetic stimulation. Clinical Neurophysiology 2007; 118: 2730-44.
  • 47 Loewenstein G, Lerner JS. The role of affect in decision making. In: Davidson RJ, Scherer KR, Goldsmith HH. (eds.). Handbook of Affective Sciences. New York: Oxford Universtiy Press; 2003
  • 48 MacDonald AW. et al. Dissociating the role of the dorsolateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex in cognitive control. Science 2000; 288 (5472): 1835-8.
  • 49 McCabe A. et al. Game theory and reciprocity in some extensive form experimental games. PNAS 1996; 93 (23) 13421-8.
  • 50 Moll J. et al. Functional networks in emotional moral and nonmoral social judgments. NeuroImage 2003; 16 (03) 696-703.
  • 51 Moretti L, Dragone D, di Pellegrino G. Reward and social valuation deficits following ventromedial prefrontal damage. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 2009; 21 (01) 128-40.
  • 52 Mottaghy FM. et al. Repetitive TMS temporarily alters brain diffusion. Neurology 2003; 60 (09) 1539-41.
  • 53 Mychack P. et al. The influence of right frontotemporal dysfunction on social behavior in frontotemporal dementia. Neurology 2001; 56: 11S-15.
  • 54 Nitsche MA, Paulus W. Excitability changes induced in the human motor cortex by weak transcranial direct current stimulation. Journal of Physiology 2000; 527 (03) 633-9.
  • 55 Nitsche MA, Paulus W. Sustained excitability elevations induced by transcranial DC motor cortex stimulation in humans. Neurology 2001; 57 (10) 1899-901.
  • 56 Nowak MA, Page KM, Sigmund K. Fairness versus reason in the ultimatum game. Science 2000; 289 (5485): 1773-5.
  • 57 Oosterbeek H. et al. Cultural differences in ultimatum game experiments: Evidence from a meta-analysis. Experimental Economics 2004; 07 (02) 171-88.
  • 58 Phillips ML. et al. A specific neural substrate for perceiving facial expressions of disgust. Nature 1997; 289 (6650): 495-8.
  • 59 Pillutla MM, Murnighan JK. Unfairness, anger, and spite: Emotional rejections of ultimatum offers. Organizational behavior and human decisionpProcesses 1996; 68 (03) 208-24.
  • 60 Purpura DP, McMurtry JG. Intracellular activities and evoked potential changes during polarization of motor cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 1965; 28 (01) 166-85.
  • 61 Rilling JK. et al. Neural correlates of social cooperation and non-cooperation as a function of psychopathy. Biological Psychiatry 2007; 61 (11) 1260-71.
  • 62 Rilling JK. et al. A neural basis for social cooperation. Neuron 2002; 35 (02) 395-405.
  • 63 Rilling JK. et al. Opposing BOLD responses to reciprocated and unreciprocated altruism in putative reward pathways. NeuroReport 2004; 15 (16) 2539-243.
  • 64 Robertson EM, Theoret H, Pascual-Leone A. Studies in cognition: the problems solved and created by transcranial magnetic stimulation. J Cogn Neurosci 2003; 15 (07) 948-60.
  • 65 Roth Y. et al. Three-dimensional distribution of the electrical field induced in the brain by transcranial magnetic stimulation using figure-8 and deep h-coils. J Clinical Neurophysiology 2007; 24: 31-8.
  • 66 Sanfey AG. et al. The neural basis of economic decision-making in the ultimatum game. Science 2003; 300 (5626): 1755-8.
  • 67 Saxe R. Uniquely human social cognition. Current opinion in neurobiology 2006; 16 (02) 235-9.
  • 68 Schultz W. Predictive reward signal of dopamine neurons. J Neurophysiology 1998; 80 (01) 1-27.
  • 69 Shamay-Tsoory SG. et al. Characterization of empathy deficits following prefrontal brain damage: The role of the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex. 2003; 15: 324-37.
  • 70 Singer T. et al. Brain responses to the acquired moral status of faces. Neuron 2004; 41 (04) 653-62.
  • 71 Vogeley K. et al. Mind reading: neural mechanisms of theory of mind and self-perspective. NeuroImage 2001; 14: 170-81.
  • 72 Von Neumann J, Morgenstern O. Theory of games and economic behavior. 2nd ed.. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 1947
  • 73 Wagner T, Valero-Cabre A, Pascual-Leone A. Noninvasive human brain stimulation. Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering 2007; 09 (01) 527-65.
  • 74 van ’t MWout. et al. Affective state and decisionmaking in the ultimatum game. Experimental Brain Research 2006; 169 (04) 564-8.
  • 75 van ’t MWout. et al. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex affects strategic decision-making. NeuroReport 2005; 16 (16) 1849-52.
  • 76 van ’t MWout, Sanfey AG. Interactive decisionmaking in people with schizotypal traits: a game theory approach. Psychiatry Research 2011; 185 (1–2): 92-6.
  • 77 Zaghi S. et al. Noninvasive brain stimulation with low-intensity electrical currents: putative mechanisms of action for direct and alternating current stimulation. Neuroscientist 2010; 16 (03) 285-307.