Multiple-Brain Connectivity During Third Party Punishment: an EEG Hyperscanning Study

Sci Rep. 2018 May 1;8(1):6822. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-24416-w.

Abstract

Compassion is a particular form of empathic reaction to harm that befalls others and is accompanied by a desire to alleviate their suffering. This altruistic behavior is often manifested through altruistic punishment, wherein individuals penalize a deprecated human's actions, even if they are directed toward strangers. By adopting a dual approach, we provide empirical evidence that compassion is a multifaceted prosocial behavior and can predict altruistic punishment. In particular, in this multiple-brain connectivity study in an EEG hyperscanning setting, compassion was examined during real-time social interactions in a third-party punishment (TPP) experiment. We observed that specific connectivity patterns were linked to behavioral and psychological intra- and interpersonal factors. Thus, our results suggest that an ecological approach based on simultaneous dual-scanning and multiple-brain connectivity is suitable for analyzing complex social phenomena.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Affect / physiology
  • Altruism*
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Brain Waves / physiology*
  • Connectome / psychology*
  • Cooperative Behavior
  • Decision Making / physiology
  • Empathy / physiology*
  • Games, Experimental
  • Healthy Volunteers
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Male
  • Punishment / psychology*
  • Self Report
  • Stress, Psychological / psychology
  • Young Adult