title: Neural components of altruistic punishment.
abstract: Altruistic punishment, which occurs when an individual incurs a cost to punish in response to unfairness or a norm violation, may play a role in perpetuating cooperation. The neural correlates underlying costly punishment have only recently begun to be explored. Here we review the current state of research on the neural basis of altruism from the perspectives of costly punishment, emphasizing the importance of characterizing elementary neural processes underlying a decision to punish. In particular, we emphasize three cognitive processes that contribute to the decision to altruistically punish in most scenarios: inequity aversion, cost-benefit calculation, and social reference frame to distinguish self from others. Overall, we argue for the importance of understanding the neural correlates of altruistic punishment with respect to the core computations necessary to achieve a decision to punish.
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke University Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Yale University New Haven, CT, USA ; Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Steve W C
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chang
keywords: altruistic punishment; cost-benefit calculation; costly punishment; inequity aversion; social reference frame