title: Medial prefrontal cortex reacts to unfairness if this damages the self: a tDCS study.
abstract: Neural correlates of unfairness perception depend on who is the target of the unfair treatment. These previous findings suggest that the activation of medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) is related to unfairness perception only when the subject of the measurement is also the person affected by the unfair treatment. We aim at demonstrating the specificity of MPFC involvement using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a technique that induces cortical excitability changes in the targeted region. We use a modified version of the Ultimatum Game, in which responders play both for themselves (myself-MS condition) and on behalf of an unknown third-party (TP condition), where they respond to unfairness without being the target of it. We find that the application of cathodal tDCS over MPFC decreases the probability of rejecting unfair offers in MS, but not in TP; conversely, the same stimulation increases the probability of rejecting fair offers in TP, but not in MS. We confirm the hypothesis that MPFC is specifically related to processing unfairness when the self is involved, and discuss possible explanations for the opposite effect of the stimulation in TP.
authors.affiliation: Radboud University, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands c.civai@donders.ru.nl.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Civai
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Section, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Italy Cognitive Neuroscience Section, IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia Italy, and.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miniussi
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Area, SISSA, Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaella I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Rumiati
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004532:Ego; D004566:Electrodes; D005260:Female; D005717:Games, Experimental; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012938:Social Perception; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: MPFC; Ultimatum Game; non-invasive brain stimulation; self-other; unfairness