Effects of the Connection Between the Different Regions of the Brain in the Behavior of Punishing Injustice
According to a study carried out at the HSE University, people show less tendency to punish others for selfish behaviors once the connection between the two regions of the brain (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and temporal-parietal lobe) gets stronger.
Social norms are necessary for the functioning of daily life. Hence, thanks to the presence of various social norms, we have interactions with people that we can foresee and be productive about in our daily lives. Nevertheless, the presence of these norms does not guarantee that they will be followed, which makes punitive practices necessary for the violation of the norms. A number of social punishment forms function as important instruments in terms of achieving and solidifying the order and collaboration in societies. The punishment can be named a second person punishment (by the victim of the violation) or a third person punishment (by an external observer), depending on the person executing it. The research, however, analyzes the punishment behaviors of the participants in a third person form.
All brain structures and connections take part in the decision-making process in this third person punishment. Nevertheless, key brain regions are Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and temporoparietal junction (TPJ). Researchers assume that TPJ assesses the misdemeanor, level of crime, and intention in the violation of the norm, while DLPFC takes this signal of crime assessment and turns it into a specific decision regarding the punishment.
The connection and interaction between TPJ and DLPFC are significant during the process of decision-making concerning the punishment. According to the researchers of the HSE University, the intensity of the connection in these two regions affects the willingness of a person to punish anyone who violates a norm.
The researchers carried out a neuroimaging experiment to prove this. Initially, the brain activities of the participants were measured for ten minutes by means of EEG. Therefore, it was possible to obtain the strength of the connection between different regions of the brain. Following the EEG process, the participants watched the “dictator game” being played by two individuals.
In the dictator game, one of the two participants plays the dictator role; those who conduct the experiment give this player some money and tell him that he is free to share the money with the other participant as much as he wants, or to keep the entire amount to himself; the second participant has no role in the game. A third person watching the game externally is also given a certain amount of money, and he is told that he can fine the dictator as twice as the money he personally spends if the dictator does not make a fair distribution. For instance, the participants, who are given 20 units of budget, can pay 5 units and fine the dictator by 10 units. He is told that this budget will be given to him after the experiment if the participants don’t pay the money for the punishment.
Researchers make two guesses before the experiment:
- The average amount of the fine imposed will be higher than the one given in a fair distribution, if the dictator’s distribution is not fair at all.
- There is a correlation between the tendency to punish and the EEG activity in the temporo-parietal regions.
- The strength of the neural connections between the frontal and temporo-parietal regions and the behavior of punishment of the third person are correlated.
At the end of the experiment;
- The third party (participants) imposed significantly higher fines in unfair distributions.
- The EEG alpha waves of the participants in the frontoparietal regions and the punishment behavior are inversely correlated.
- It was determined that the fine imposed became higher as the connection between the said two regions of the brain got stronger. The researchers concluded that an unfair behavior would lead to a stronger crime/misdemeanor assessment signal, which in turn would lead them to impose a harsher punishment.
In conclusion, this experiment obtained significant results in terms of explaining a specific portion of the individual differences in our choices and behaviors based on our brain structures and the differences in the way they function.
REFERENCES:
– Zinchenko O., Nikulin V. (2021). Wired to punish? Electroencephalographic study of the resting-state neuronal oscillations underlying third-party. Neuroscience,471, 1-10.
