Neural correlates of spontaneous deception: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)study

Abstract

Deception is commonly seen in everyday social interactions. However, most of the knowledge about the underlying neural mechanism of deception comes from studies where participants were instructed when and how to lie. To study spontaneous deception, we designed a guessing game modeled after Greene and Paxton (2009), in which lying is the only way to achieve the performance level needed to end the game. We recorded neural responses during the game using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). We found that when compared to truth-telling, spontaneous deception, like instructed deception, engenders greater involvement of such prefrontal regions as the left superior frontal gyrus. We also found that the correct-truth trials produced greater neural activities in the left middle frontal gyrus and right superior frontal gyrus than the incorrect-truth trials, suggesting the involvement of the reward system. Furthermore, the present study confirmed the feasibility of using NIRS to study spontaneous deception.

Executive control- and reward-related neural processes associated with the opportunity to engage in voluntary dishonest moral decision making

“…This sample size is consistent with previous studies that employed a similar voluntary dis/honest choice paradigm (e.g., Ding et al, 2013, N =18; Abe & Greene, 2014, N =28; Shavli & De Deru, 2014, N =30). Six additional participants were excluded given excessive blinks and artifacts.…”

“…Researchers have recently begun to investigate the neural processes underlying voluntary deception, which involves engaging in dishonest behavior in a setting in which the individual is free to make their own honest or dishonest choices (Abe & Greene, 2014; Baumgartner et al, 2009; Ding et al, 2013; Greene & Paxton, 2009; Sip et al 2010, 2012). This initial work suggests both commonalities and distinctions in the neural mechanisms underlying voluntary versus instructed deception.…”

The Neural Basis of Deception and Credibility Assessment

“…To maximize their gains while not giving themselves away, deceptive participants had to avoid misreporting their predictions on every self-report trial and thus presumably used strategies to determine when to lie and when to tell the truth. Their finding of greater prefrontal activity was replicated in a recent NIRS study that used a paradigm modeled on theirs (Ding et al, 2013). In sum, although atypical of most deception paradigms, Greene and Paxton (2009) created one of the more ecologically valid paradigms with which to study naturally occurring lies.…”

The neural basis of the Machiavellians’ decision making in fair and unfair situations

“…In general, Machiavellianism, like other forms of deception, must be an intensive task from cognitive point of view: it needs both to inhibit the disclosure of a true affair and to present a false affair (Ding, Gao, Fu, & Lee 2013). This kind of complex reasoning may correspond with our specific result on the elevated activity in the HM' middle temporal gyrus (mTG) that was reported to play a role in creative thinking.…”

“…The role of DLPFC in cognitive control during deception is supported by the study that found increased activity in the superior frontal gyrus was found when deceptive responses were contrasted with truthful responses (Langleben et al, 2002). A recent study found elevated activity in the dorsal prefrontal cortex in general, and the left superior frontal gyrus specifically, when participants were instructed to tell a lie rather than when they were instructed to tell the truth (Ding et al, 2013). We found other brain areas that may be also involved in manipulation and deception via inhibitory processes.…”