Preliminary Evidence of the Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Self-Enhancement: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study
Humans employ a number of strategies to improve their position in their given social hierarchy. Overclaiming involves presenting oneself as having more knowledge than one actually possesses, and it is typically invoked to increase one’s social standing. If increased expectations to possess knowledge...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Brain Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/8/535 |
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| author | Birgitta Taylor-Lillquist Vivek Kanpa Maya Crawford Mehdi El Filali Julia Oakes Alex Jonasz Amanda Disney Julian Paul Keenan |
| author_facet | Birgitta Taylor-Lillquist Vivek Kanpa Maya Crawford Mehdi El Filali Julia Oakes Alex Jonasz Amanda Disney Julian Paul Keenan |
| author_sort | Birgitta Taylor-Lillquist |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Humans employ a number of strategies to improve their position in their given social hierarchy. Overclaiming involves presenting oneself as having more knowledge than one actually possesses, and it is typically invoked to increase one’s social standing. If increased expectations to possess knowledge is a perceived social pressure, such expectations should increase bouts of overclaiming. As the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is sensitive to social pressure and disruption of the MPFC leads to decreases in overclaiming, we predicted that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied to the MPFC would reduce overclaiming and the effects would be enhanced in the presence of social pressure. Twelve participants were given a test in which half of the words were real and half were fake, and they were asked how well they knew each word. They were not told that any of the words were fake. Half of the participants were exposed to social pressure while the other half were not. Following TMS delivered to the MPFC, overclaiming rates decreased, specifically under conditions of high social pressure. Medial PFC TMS did not influence real word responses and real words did not interact with the MPFC and social pressure. These preliminary findings support the significant role the MPFC plays in social cognition and the importance of the MPFC in mediating socially meaningful situations. We suggest the role of the MPFC as being highly influenced by the premium placed on social manipulation in human evolution. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:47:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-918ef780abca495a8fac67c294fa8b40 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3425 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T17:47:03Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-918ef780abca495a8fac67c294fa8b402023-11-20T09:30:47ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252020-08-0110853510.3390/brainsci10080535Preliminary Evidence of the Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Self-Enhancement: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation StudyBirgitta Taylor-Lillquist0Vivek Kanpa1Maya Crawford2Mehdi El Filali3Julia Oakes4Alex Jonasz5Amanda Disney6Julian Paul Keenan7Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USADepartment of Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USADepartment of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USADepartment of Psychology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06457, USADepartment of Psychology, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY 13323, USADepartment of Biology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USADepartment of Dentistry, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN 47405, USACognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, 207 Science Hall, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043, USAHumans employ a number of strategies to improve their position in their given social hierarchy. Overclaiming involves presenting oneself as having more knowledge than one actually possesses, and it is typically invoked to increase one’s social standing. If increased expectations to possess knowledge is a perceived social pressure, such expectations should increase bouts of overclaiming. As the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is sensitive to social pressure and disruption of the MPFC leads to decreases in overclaiming, we predicted that transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) applied to the MPFC would reduce overclaiming and the effects would be enhanced in the presence of social pressure. Twelve participants were given a test in which half of the words were real and half were fake, and they were asked how well they knew each word. They were not told that any of the words were fake. Half of the participants were exposed to social pressure while the other half were not. Following TMS delivered to the MPFC, overclaiming rates decreased, specifically under conditions of high social pressure. Medial PFC TMS did not influence real word responses and real words did not interact with the MPFC and social pressure. These preliminary findings support the significant role the MPFC plays in social cognition and the importance of the MPFC in mediating socially meaningful situations. We suggest the role of the MPFC as being highly influenced by the premium placed on social manipulation in human evolution.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/8/535social pressuredeceptionmedial prefrontal cortexoverclaimingself-deceptiontranscranial magnetic stimulation |
| spellingShingle | Birgitta Taylor-Lillquist Vivek Kanpa Maya Crawford Mehdi El Filali Julia Oakes Alex Jonasz Amanda Disney Julian Paul Keenan Preliminary Evidence of the Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Self-Enhancement: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study Brain Sciences social pressure deception medial prefrontal cortex overclaiming self-deception transcranial magnetic stimulation |
| title | Preliminary Evidence of the Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Self-Enhancement: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study |
| title_full | Preliminary Evidence of the Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Self-Enhancement: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study |
| title_fullStr | Preliminary Evidence of the Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Self-Enhancement: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Preliminary Evidence of the Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Self-Enhancement: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study |
| title_short | Preliminary Evidence of the Role of Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Self-Enhancement: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study |
| title_sort | preliminary evidence of the role of medial prefrontal cortex in self enhancement a transcranial magnetic stimulation study |
| topic | social pressure deception medial prefrontal cortex overclaiming self-deception transcranial magnetic stimulation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/8/535 |
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