Brain activation and adaptation of deception processing during dyadic face-to-face interaction

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Deception often follows a slippery-slope effect, escalating over time.
• Interactive situations may alter deception trajectories.
• Understanding neural mechanisms of deception in different contexts is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how face-to-face (FF) versus computer-mediated face-blocked (FB) interactions influence deception.
• To examine neural activity in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) and right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) during deception.
• To explore neural adaptation to deception in different interactive settings.

Main Methods:

• Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) recorded brain activity in deceivers and receivers during an adapted ultimatum game.
• Naturalistic FF and FB interactions were compared.
• Brain activity in rDLPFC and rTPJ was analyzed in relation to deception escalation and adaptation.

Main Results:

• FF interactions led to more successful deception and higher rDLPFC activation compared to FB interactions.
• Deception magnitude escalated in both FF and FB interactions.
• Neural adaptation in rDLPFC occurred only in FF interactions, correlating with behavioral switching between deception and honesty. rTPJ showed adaptation to deception in FF interactions.

Conclusions:

• Interactive context significantly impacts deception dynamics and neural correlates.
• The rDLPFC plays a key role in deception adaptation and behavioral control (switching).
• The rTPJ is involved in adapting to deception, particularly in face-to-face settings, highlighting its role in the slippery-slope effect.