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Dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex track distinct properties of dynamic social behavior.

Publication ,  Journal Article
McDonald, KR; Pearson, JM; Huettel, SA
Published in: Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci
June 23, 2020

Understanding how humans make competitive decisions in complex environments is a key goal of decision neuroscience. Typical experimental paradigms constrain behavioral complexity (e.g. choices in discrete-play games), and thus, the underlying neural mechanisms of dynamic social interactions remain incompletely understood. Here, we collected fMRI data while humans played a competitive real-time video game against both human and computer opponents, and then, we used Bayesian non-parametric methods to link behavior to neural mechanisms. Two key cognitive processes characterized behavior in our task: (i) the coupling of one's actions to another's actions (i.e. opponent sensitivity) and (ii) the advantageous timing of a given strategic action. We found that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex displayed selective activation when the subject's actions were highly sensitive to the opponent's actions, whereas activation in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex increased proportionally to the advantageous timing of actions to defeat one's opponent. Moreover, the temporoparietal junction tracked both of these behavioral quantities as well as opponent social identity, indicating a more general role in monitoring other social agents. These results suggest that brain regions that are frequently implicated in social cognition and value-based decision-making also contribute to the strategic tracking of the value of social actions in dynamic, multi-agent contexts.

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Published In

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci

DOI

EISSN

1749-5024

Publication Date

June 23, 2020

Volume

15

Issue

4

Start / End Page

383 / 393

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Behavior
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Decision Making
  • Brain
  • Bayes Theorem
 

Citation

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McDonald, K. R., Pearson, J. M., & Huettel, S. A. (2020). Dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex track distinct properties of dynamic social behavior. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, 15(4), 383–393. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa053
McDonald, Kelsey R., John M. Pearson, and Scott A. Huettel. “Dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex track distinct properties of dynamic social behavior.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 15, no. 4 (June 23, 2020): 383–93. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa053.
McDonald KR, Pearson JM, Huettel SA. Dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex track distinct properties of dynamic social behavior. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2020 Jun 23;15(4):383–93.
McDonald, Kelsey R., et al. “Dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex track distinct properties of dynamic social behavior.Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci, vol. 15, no. 4, June 2020, pp. 383–93. Pubmed, doi:10.1093/scan/nsaa053.
McDonald KR, Pearson JM, Huettel SA. Dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex track distinct properties of dynamic social behavior. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2020 Jun 23;15(4):383–393.
Journal cover image

Published In

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci

DOI

EISSN

1749-5024

Publication Date

June 23, 2020

Volume

15

Issue

4

Start / End Page

383 / 393

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Social Behavior
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Male
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Decision Making
  • Brain
  • Bayes Theorem