Effortless retaliation: the neural dynamics of interpersonal intentions in the Chicken Game using brain–computer interface

Yiwen Wang*, Yuxiao Lin, Chao Fu, Zhihua Huang, Shaobei Xiao, Rongjun Yu

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    4 Citations (Scopus)

    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 a low-level response-related brain activity. Using an Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain-computer interface 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 (alpha-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.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1138-1149
    Number of pages12
    JournalSocial Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
    Volume16
    Issue number11
    Early online date12 May 2021
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2021

    Scopus Subject Areas

    • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
    • Cognitive Neuroscience

    User-Defined Keywords

    • Chicken Game
    • alpha event-related desynchronization
    • brain-computer interface
    • cooperation

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