Modulating the activity of right temporo-parietal junction by anodal tDCS enhances the agent's repayment in hold-up game.

Hold-up problem is very common in non-contractible relation-specific investment transactions. And this problem can affect by trust, cooperation and altruism behavior of human beings. Recent neuroscience researches had explored a network of right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) involved in human cooperation and altruism behavior. The purpose of this study is to modulate the activation of rTPJ through transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and to study the influence of rTPJ on investment and offer behavior in hold-up game. The results of our study showed that the anodal stimulation significantly increased participants' offer compared with the cathodal and sham stimulation. A possible explanation is that changes in rTPJ activity induced by anodal stimulation improve the accuracy of agents' mental reasoning and promote cooperation by influencing agents' offer behavior.