Game Theory and the brain

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.

Keywords

Social interaction - decision-making - fairness - cooperation - trust

Schlüsselwörter

Soziale Interaktion - Entscheidungsfindung - Gerechtigkeit - Zusammenarbeit - Vertrauen

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