Neural alignment during face-to-face spontaneous deception: Does gender make a difference?

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Deception is a complex social behavior with potential gender differences.
• Understanding the neural underpinnings of deception in real-time social interactions is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate gender differences in the neural basis of spontaneous face-to-face deception.
• To explore interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) patterns in male and female dyads during a deception task.

Main Methods:

• Utilized functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based hyperscanning to simultaneously record neural activity in male and female dyads during a deception task.
• Analyzed interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and right temporal parietal junction (rTPJ).
• Employed Granger causality analysis to assess directionality of neural influence within dyads.

Main Results:

• No significant gender differences in deception rate, success rate, or eye contact during deception.
• Enhanced INS in the PFC was observed in female dyads, while enhanced INS in the rTPJ was observed in male dyads.
• INS in both PFC and rTPJ correlated with deception success, with PFC INS mediating eye contact's effect in females.

Conclusions:

• Differential patterns of interpersonal neural synchronization are recruited during face-to-face deception, varying by gender.
• This study provides the first interbrain evidence for gender differences in successful deception.
• Findings deepen the understanding of spontaneous deception dynamics in dyads.