Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Inter-Brain Synchrony in Open-Ended Collaborative Learning: An fNIRS-Hyperscanning Study
Published on: July 21, 2021
Neural basis of conditional cooperation
Shinsuke Suzuki1, Kazuhisa Niki, Syoken Fujisaki
1Laboratory of Integrated Theoretical Neuroscience, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Saitama 351-0198, Japan. shinsuke@adds.co.jp
Abstract:
Cooperation among genetically unrelated individuals is a fundamental aspect of society, but it has been a longstanding puzzle in biological and social sciences. Recently, theoretical studies in biology and economics showed that conditional cooperation-cooperating only with those who have exhibited cooperative behavior-can spread over a society. Furthermore, experimental studies in psychology demonstrated that people are actually conditional cooperators. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural system underlying conditional cooperation by scanning participants during interaction with cooperative, neutral and non-cooperative opponents in prisoner's dilemma games. The results showed that: (i) participants cooperated more frequently with both cooperative and neutral opponents than with non-cooperative opponents; and (ii) a brain area related to cognitive inhibition of pre-potent responses (right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) showed greater activation, especially when participants confronted non-cooperative opponents. Consequently, we suggest that cognitive inhibition of the motivation to cooperate with non-cooperators drives the conditional behavior.
More Related Videos
08:42Measurement of the Directional Information Flow in fNIRS-Hyperscanning Data using the Partial Wavelet Transform Coherence Method
Published on: September 3, 2021
11:14A Novel Experimental and Analytical Approach to the Multimodal Neural Decoding of Intent During Social Interaction in Freely-behaving Human Infants
Published on: October 4, 2015
Related Concept Videos
Principles of Classical Conditioning
During the...
Associative Learning
Classical conditioning, also known...
Nonconscious Mimicry
Theory of Attribution I: Correspondent Inference Theory
Secondary Motives: Affiliation Motivation and Aggression Motivation
Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement in operant conditioning can be positive or negative, both of which serve to increase the likelihood of a behavior. Positive...