Ventromedial prefrontal cortex attenuates the link between physiological heart rate reactions to unfairness and value computations in normative decision making
Experimental study reveals prefrontal stimulation uncouples heart rate arousal from fairness choices, suggesting cortical modulation integrates emotion and cognitive trade-offs.
Key Points
Determine which brain regions integrate autonomic physiological reactions, such as heart rate changes elicited by norm violations, into normative value computations during decision making.
Applied excitatory brain stimulation over the ventromedial prefrontal cortex during an Ultimatum Game paradigm.
Tracked physiological heart rate responses and assessed post-decision confidence across varying levels of monetary inequality.
Excitatory stimulation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex reduced behavioral aversion to disadvantageous inequality and increased post-decision confidence after accepting unfair offers.
Prefrontal excitation reduced unfairness sensitivity by uncoupling heart rate reactivity from choice behavior rather than suppressing cardiac reactions directly.