Neural processes underlying self- and other-related lies: An individual difference approach using fMRI

Abstract

Two hypotheses were tested using a novel individual differences approach, which identifies rate-limiting brain regions, that is, brain regions in which variations in neural activity predict variations in behavioral performance. The first hypothesis is that the rate-limiting regions that support the production of lies about oneself (self-related) are partially distinct from those underlying the production of lies about other individuals (other-related). The second hypothesis is that a cingulate–insular–prefrontal network found to be rate-limiting for interference tasks is involved in both types of lies. The results confirmed both hypotheses and supported the utility of this individual differences approach in the study of deception in particular, as well in the study of complex cognitive phenomena more generally.

Acknowledgements

This material is based partially upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant BCS-0322611. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The authors wish to thank Haline Schendan, Julian P. Keenan, and Mark D. Happel for helpful discussion, and Jonathan Weiss for help with stimulus design and implementation.

Notes

¹Data collection for this study ended in the second half of 2005, prior to the widespread negative feelings towards President Bush that arose when the war in Iraq took a turn for the worse. Thus, at the time the study was conducted, the self/other distinction was not clearly confounded with major differences in emotional valence.