School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China, 518060.
Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience, Shenzhen, China, 518060.
J Neurosci. 2020 Apr 29;40(18):3646-3656. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1385-19.2020. Epub 2020 Apr 1.
As an important cognitive bias, the framing effect shows that our decision preferences are sensitive to the verbal description (i.e., frame) of options. This study focuses on the neural underpinnings of the social framing effect, which is based on decision-making regarding other people. A novel paradigm was used in which participants made a trade-off between economic benefits and the feelings of others. This decision was described as either a "harm" to, or "not helping," other persons in two conditions (Harm frame vs Help frame). Both human males and females were recruited. Participants behaved more prosocially for Harm frame compared with Help frame, resulting in a significant social framing effect. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, Experiment 1 showed that the social framing effect was associated with stronger activation in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), especially its right part. The functional connectivity between the right TPJ (rTPJ) and medial prefrontal cortex predicted the social framing effect on the group level. In Experiment 2, we used transcranial direct current stimulation to modulate the activity of the rTPJ and found that the social framing effect became more prominent under anodal (excitatory) stimulation, while the nonsocial framing effect elicited by the economic gain/loss gambling frame remained unaffected. The rTPJ results might be associated with moral conflicts modulated by the social consequences of an action or different levels of mentalizing with others under different frame conditions, but alternative interpretations are also worth noting. These findings could help elucidate the psychological mechanisms of the social framing effect. Previous studies have suggested that the framing effect is generated from an interaction between the amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex. This opinion, however, is based on findings from nonsocial framing tasks. Recent research has highlighted the importance of distinguishing between the social and nonsocial framing effects. The current study focuses on the social framing effect and finds out that the temporoparietal junction and its functional connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex play a significant role. Additionally, modulating the activity of this region leads to changes in social (but not nonsocial) framing effect. Broadly speaking, these findings help understand the difference in neural mechanisms between social and nonsocial decision-making. Meanwhile, they might be illuminating to promote helping behavior in society.
作为一种重要的认知偏差，框架效应表明，我们的决策偏好对选项的语言描述（即框架）敏感。本研究关注的是基于对他人决策的社会框架效应的神经基础。在一种新的范式中，参与者在经济利益和他人感受之间进行权衡。这种决策在两种条件下被描述为对他人的“伤害”或“不帮助”（伤害框架与帮助框架）。招募了男性和女性参与者。与帮助框架相比，参与者在伤害框架下表现出更亲社会的行为，从而产生了显著的社会框架效应。使用功能磁共振成像，实验 1 表明，社会框架效应与颞顶联合区（TPJ），特别是其右部分的更强激活相关。右 TPJ（rTPJ）和内侧前额叶皮层之间的功能连接预测了群体水平上的社会框架效应。在实验 2 中，我们使用经颅直流电刺激来调节 rTPJ 的活动，发现在阳极（兴奋）刺激下，社会框架效应变得更加明显，而在不同框架条件下，由经济收益/损失赌博框架引起的非社会框架效应不受影响。rTPJ 的结果可能与行动的社会后果或不同框架条件下与他人不同层次的心理化调节的道德冲突有关，但也值得注意其他解释。这些发现有助于阐明社会框架效应的心理机制。先前的研究表明，框架效应是由杏仁核和前扣带皮层之间的相互作用产生的。然而，这种观点是基于非社会框架任务的发现。最近的研究强调了区分社会和非社会框架效应的重要性。本研究关注社会框架效应，发现颞顶联合区及其与内侧前额叶皮层的功能连接在其中发挥了重要作用。此外，调节该区域的活动会导致社会（而非非社会）框架效应的变化。总的来说，这些发现有助于理解社会和非社会决策之间神经机制的差异。同时，它们可能有助于促进社会中的帮助行为。
