scholarly journals Brain stimulation reveals crucial role of overcoming self-centeredness in self-control

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. e1600992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Soutschek ◽  
Christian C. Ruff ◽  
Tina Strombach ◽  
Tobias Kalenscher ◽  
Philippe N. Tobler
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Perspective Taking ◽  
Impulse Control ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Neural Mechanism ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Social Discounting ◽  
Number Recognition ◽  
Social Decision Making

Neurobiological models of self-control predominantly focus on the role of prefrontal brain mechanisms involved in emotion regulation and impulse control. We provide evidence for an entirely different neural mechanism that promotes self-control by overcoming bias for the present self, a mechanism previously thought to be mainly important for interpersonal decision-making. In two separate studies, we show that disruptive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) of the temporo-parietal junction—a brain region involved in overcoming one’s self-centered perspective—increases the discounting of delayed and prosocial rewards. This effect of TMS on temporal and social discounting is accompanied by deficits in perspective-taking and does not reflect altered spatial reorienting and number recognition. Our findings substantiate a fundamental commonality between the domains of self-control and social decision-making and highlight a novel aspect of the neurocognitive processes involved in self-control.

scholarly journals The role of the right temporo-parietal junction in social decision-making

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 3072-3085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Bitsch ◽  
Philipp Berger ◽  
Arne Nagels ◽  
Irina Falkenberg ◽  
Benjamin Straube
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Decision ◽  
The Right ◽  
Social Decision Making

Neural Mechanisms of the Testosterone–Aggression Relation: The Role of Orbitofrontal Cortex

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 2357-2368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pranjal H. Mehta ◽  
Jennifer Beer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Orbitofrontal Cortex ◽  
Impulse Control ◽  
Ultimatum Game ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Neural Circuitry ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Reduced Activity

Testosterone plays a role in aggressive behavior, but the mechanisms remain unclear. The present study tested the hypothesis that testosterone influences aggression through the OFC, a region implicated in self-regulation and impulse control. In a decision-making paradigm in which people chose between aggression and monetary reward (the ultimatum game), testosterone was associated with increased aggression following social provocation (rejecting unfair offers). The effect of testosterone on aggression was explained by reduced activity in the medial OFC. The findings suggest that testosterone increases the propensity toward aggression because of reduced activation of the neural circuitry of impulse control and self-regulation.

scholarly journals Intuition, deliberation, and the evolution of cooperation

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 936-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Bear ◽  
David G. Rand
Keyword(s):  
Self Control ◽  
Dual Process ◽  
Evolution Of Cooperation ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Altruistic Behavior ◽  
Theoretic Model ◽  
Evolutionary Modeling ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Social Decision Making

Humans often cooperate with strangers, despite the costs involved. A long tradition of theoretical modeling has sought ultimate evolutionary explanations for this seemingly altruistic behavior. More recently, an entirely separate body of experimental work has begun to investigate cooperation’s proximate cognitive underpinnings using a dual-process framework: Is deliberative self-control necessary to reign in selfish impulses, or does self-interested deliberation restrain an intuitive desire to cooperate? Integrating these ultimate and proximate approaches, we introduce dual-process cognition into a formal game-theoretic model of the evolution of cooperation. Agents play prisoner’s dilemma games, some of which are one-shot and others of which involve reciprocity. They can either respond by using a generalized intuition, which is not sensitive to whether the game is one-shot or reciprocal, or pay a (stochastically varying) cost to deliberate and tailor their strategy to the type of game they are facing. We find that, depending on the level of reciprocity and assortment, selection favors one of two strategies: intuitive defectors who never deliberate, or dual-process agents who intuitively cooperate but sometimes use deliberation to defect in one-shot games. Critically, selection never favors agents who use deliberation to override selfish impulses: Deliberation only serves to undermine cooperation with strangers. Thus, by introducing a formal theoretical framework for exploring cooperation through a dual-process lens, we provide a clear answer regarding the role of deliberation in cooperation based on evolutionary modeling, help to organize a growing body of sometimes-conflicting empirical results, and shed light on the nature of human cognition and social decision making.

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