Citation

Wang Y, Lin Y, Fu C, Huang Z, Yu R, Xiao S. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/scan/nsab064

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The desire for retaliation is a common response across a majority of human societies. However, the neural mechanisms underlying aggression and retaliation remain unclear. Previous studies on social intentions are confounded by low-level response related brain activity. Using an EEG-based brain-computer interface (BCI) combined with the Chicken Game, our study examined the neural dynamics of aggression and retaliation after controlling for nonessential response related neural signals. Our results show that aggression is associated with reduced alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD), indicating reduced mental effort. Moreover, retaliation and tit-for-tat strategy use are also linked with smaller alpha-ERD. Our study provides a novel method to minimize motor confounds and demonstrates that choosing aggression and retaliation is less effortful in social conflicts.

Language: en

Keywords

Cooperation; Alpha event-related desynchronization; Brain-computer interface; Chicken Game