Prior disturbance increases activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) during competition

Abstract

To examine how prior experience of role-playing affects an individual’s activation in their inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) during subsequent cooperation and competition, using near-infrared spectroscopy we simultaneously measured pairs of participants’ bilateral IFG activation when they played a computerized turn-taking game. Pairs of participants were assigned to either one of two roles in the game: a Builder taking the initial move to copy a disk-pattern on a monitor and a Partner taking the second move to aid the Builder in his/her goal in a cooperative game or to obstruct it in a competitive game. Two participants changed their Builder-Partner roles in two continuous sessions. The results suggest that one could draw from prior experience of being disturbed to more tactically disturb others in the subsequent competition. The better understanding of the Builder’s position increased one’s right IFG activation when (s)he was meant to disturb in the session 2.