Neural basis of corruption in power-holders
Corruption often involves bribery, when a briber suborns a power-holder to gain advantages usually at a cost of moral transgression. Despite its wide presence in human societies, the neurocomputational basis of bribery remains elusive. Here, using model-based fMRI, we investigated the neural substra...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2021-03-01
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Series: | eLife |
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Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/63922 |
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author | Yang Hu Chen Hu Edmund Derrington Brice Corgnet Chen Qu Jean-Claude Dreher |
author_facet | Yang Hu Chen Hu Edmund Derrington Brice Corgnet Chen Qu Jean-Claude Dreher |
author_sort | Yang Hu |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Corruption often involves bribery, when a briber suborns a power-holder to gain advantages usually at a cost of moral transgression. Despite its wide presence in human societies, the neurocomputational basis of bribery remains elusive. Here, using model-based fMRI, we investigated the neural substrates of how a power-holder decides to accept or reject a bribe. Power-holders considered two types of moral cost brought by taking bribes: the cost of conniving with a fraudulent briber, encoded in the anterior insula, and the harm brought to a third party, represented in the right temporoparietal junction. These moral costs were integrated into a value signal in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was selectively engaged to guide anti-corrupt behaviors when a third party would be harmed. Multivariate and connectivity analyses further explored how these neural processes depend on individual differences. These findings advance our understanding of the neurocomputational mechanisms underlying corrupt behaviors. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:01:23Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-7e0bd2455a504a5fa220e39079bdbcf8 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2050-084X |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:01:23Z |
publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
publisher | eLife Sciences Publications Ltd |
record_format | Article |
series | eLife |
spelling | doaj.art-7e0bd2455a504a5fa220e39079bdbcf82022-12-22T03:52:40ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2021-03-011010.7554/eLife.63922Neural basis of corruption in power-holdersYang Hu0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7659-5782Chen Hu1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2289-743XEdmund Derrington2Brice Corgnet3Chen Qu4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8465-8007Jean-Claude Dreher5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2157-1529Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China; Laboratory of Neuroeconomics, Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Lyon, FranceMotivation, Brain & Behavior (MBB) Team, Institut du Cerveau et Moelle Epiniere, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France; Sorbonne Université, Paris, FranceLaboratory of Neuroeconomics, Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Lyon, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, FranceEmLyon, Ecully, FranceKey Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, ChinaLaboratory of Neuroeconomics, Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Lyon, France; Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, FranceCorruption often involves bribery, when a briber suborns a power-holder to gain advantages usually at a cost of moral transgression. Despite its wide presence in human societies, the neurocomputational basis of bribery remains elusive. Here, using model-based fMRI, we investigated the neural substrates of how a power-holder decides to accept or reject a bribe. Power-holders considered two types of moral cost brought by taking bribes: the cost of conniving with a fraudulent briber, encoded in the anterior insula, and the harm brought to a third party, represented in the right temporoparietal junction. These moral costs were integrated into a value signal in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was selectively engaged to guide anti-corrupt behaviors when a third party would be harmed. Multivariate and connectivity analyses further explored how these neural processes depend on individual differences. These findings advance our understanding of the neurocomputational mechanisms underlying corrupt behaviors.https://elifesciences.org/articles/63922corruptionbribe-takingmoral costmodel-based fMRImultivariate analyses |
spellingShingle | Yang Hu Chen Hu Edmund Derrington Brice Corgnet Chen Qu Jean-Claude Dreher Neural basis of corruption in power-holders eLife corruption bribe-taking moral cost model-based fMRI multivariate analyses |
title | Neural basis of corruption in power-holders |
title_full | Neural basis of corruption in power-holders |
title_fullStr | Neural basis of corruption in power-holders |
title_full_unstemmed | Neural basis of corruption in power-holders |
title_short | Neural basis of corruption in power-holders |
title_sort | neural basis of corruption in power holders |
topic | corruption bribe-taking moral cost model-based fMRI multivariate analyses |
url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/63922 |
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