Ding Yi, Yang Xinyue, Zhang Wengang, Lyu Wei, Wang Mia Y
School of Economics and Management, Anhui Polytechnic University, NO. 8 Beijing middle road, Jiujiang district, Wuhu, 241000, P. R. China.
Department of Computer Science, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA.
Sci Rep. 2024 Dec 28;14(1):31274. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-82696-x.
The rapid propagation of information in the digital epoch has brought a surge of rumors, creating a significant societal challenge. While prior research has primarily focused on the psychological aspects of rumors-such as the beliefs, behaviors, and persistence they evoke-there has been limited exploration of how rumors are processed in the brain. In this study, we experimented to examine both behavioral responses and EEG data during rumor detection. Participants evaluated the credibility of 80 randomly presented rumors, and only 22% were able to identify false rumors more accurately than by random chance. Our ERP findings reveal that truth judgments elicit stronger negative ERP responses (N400) compared to false judgments, while false judgments are associated with larger positive ERP responses (P2, P3, and LPP). Additionally, we identified gender differences in brain activity related to rumor detection, suggesting distinct cognitive strategies. Men demonstrated greater P2 and enhanced N400 responses, while women exhibited larger P3 and LPP amplitudes. This study is among the first to investigate the neural patterns underlying rumors recognition and to highlight gender disparities in decision-making related to rumors.
数字时代信息的快速传播引发了谣言激增，给社会带来了重大挑战。虽然先前的研究主要集中在谣言的心理层面，如谣言引发的信念、行为和持续性，但对于大脑如何处理谣言的探索却很有限。在本研究中，我们进行了实验，以检查谣言检测过程中的行为反应和脑电图数据。参与者评估了80条随机呈现的谣言的可信度，只有22%的人能够比随机猜测更准确地识别虚假谣言。我们的事件相关电位研究结果表明，与错误判断相比，真实判断会引发更强的负向事件相关电位反应（N400），而错误判断则与更大的正向事件相关电位反应（P2、P3和LPP）相关。此外，我们还发现了与谣言检测相关的大脑活动中的性别差异，这表明存在不同的认知策略。男性表现出更大的P2和增强的N400反应，而女性则表现出更大的P3和LPP振幅。本研究是最早探究谣言识别背后神经模式并突出与谣言相关决策中性别差异的研究之一。
