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Serotonin modulates behavioral reactions to unfairness

Molly J Crockett1, Luke Clark, Golnaz Tabibnia

  • 1Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK. mc536@cam.ac.uk

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|June 7, 2008
PubMed

Serotonin (5-HT) has long been implicated in social behavior and impulsivity, but the mechanisms through which it modulates self-control remain unclear. We observed the effects of manipulating 5-HT function on behavior in the ultimatum game, where players must decide whether to accept or reject fair or unfair monetary offers from another player. Participants with depleted 5-HT levels rejected a greater proportion of unfair offers, but not fair offers, without showing changes in mood, fairness judgment, basic reward processing, or response inhibition. Our results suggest that 5-HT plays a critical role in regulating emotion during social decision-making.

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