Functional EEG connectivity during competition

Abstract

BackgroundSocial behavior and interactions pervasively shape and influence our lives and relationships. Competition, in particular, has become a core topic in social neuroscience since it stresses the relevance and salience of social comparison processes between the inter-agents that are involved in a common task. The majority of studies, however, investigated such kind of social interaction via one-person individual paradigms, thus not taking into account relevant information concerning interdependent participants’ behavioral and neural responses. In the present study, dyads of volunteers participated in a hyperscanning paradigm and competed in a computerized attention task while their electrophysiological (EEG) activity and performance were monitored and recorded. Behavioral data and inter-brain coupling measures based on EEG frequency data were then computed and compared across different experimental conditions: a control condition (individual task, t0), a first competitive condition (pre-feedback condition, t1), and a second competitive condition following a positive reinforcing feedback (post-feedback condition, t2).ResultsResults showed that during competitive tasks participants’ performance was improved with respect to control condition (reduced response times and error rates), with a further specific improvement after receiving a reinforcing feedback. Concurrently, we observed a reduction of inter-brain functional connectivity (primarily involving bilateral prefrontal areas) for slower EEG frequency bands (delta and theta). Finally, correlation analyses highlighted a significant association between cognitive performance and inter-brain connectivity measures.ConclusionsThe present results may help identifying specific patterns of behavioral and inter-brain coupling measures associated to competition and processing of social reinforcements.

The Presence of Another Person Influences Oscillatory Cortical Dynamics During Dual Brain EEG Recording

“…EEG hyperscanning during cooperative games reveals variability in the activity of different frequency bands in prefrontal areas (15), with activity in prefrontal and anterior cingulate regions differentiating player order during card games (16). EEG hyperscanning has also evidenced value during cooperative (17)(18)(19) and competitive social interactions (20,21). Additionally, EEG hyperscanning has demonstrated interpersonal synchrony when people are performing coordinated movements (22)(23)(24)(25)(26).…”

Neuroscience Tools for Group Decision and Negotiation

“…• Emotional self-regulation and reward processing strongly influence game choices (Hollmann et al 2011). Hunt et al (2014), Trepel et al (2005), Barberis and Xiong (2009), Goucher-Lambert et al (2017), Sylcott et al (2013), Ravaja et al (2016), Linkov et al (2012) Other features Brocas (2012), Preuschoff et al (2006), Kuhnen (2015) Negotiation processes Game theory Krueger et al (2008), Hollmann et al (2011), Rilling et al (2002) Interaction processes Lee (2006Lee ( , 2008, Fehr and Camerer (2007), Gęsiarz and Crockett (2015) Emotions Bechara and Damasio (2005), Liu et al (2016), Tabibnia et al (2008) Cooperation and competition Balconi and Vanutelli (2018), Lee et al (2018) Cultural differences Briley et al 2014, Wawra (2009), Kubota et al (2012) • Emotions support advantageous decisions (Bechara and Damasio 2005);…”

“…• Competitive conditions, inspired by positive feedback, improve outcomes (Balconi and Vanutelli 2018). • In cooperation scenario, participants make decisions more accurately (Lee et al 2018).…”

“…According to Rilling et al (2002), cooperation is the basis to construct human social behavior. On the other hand, competition is a common behavior among social animals, such as humans (Balconi and Vanutelli 2018). In this context, investigating the neural process behind these two mechanisms is important to understand the human behavior and consequently the negotiation process.…”

“…According to Balconi and Vanutelli (2018), some previous papers related competition to the actuation of prefrontal and parietal cortex, while cooperation involved the orbitofrontal cortex. Moreover, in order to better investigate these mechanisms, the authors developed an experiment in which participants had to evaluate a selective attention task.…”