RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The Brain's Temporal Dynamics from a Collective Decision to Individual Action
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 5816
OP 5823
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4107-13.2014
VO 34
IS 17
A1 Caroline J. Charpentier
A1 Christina Moutsiana
A1 Neil Garrett
A1 Tali Sharot
YR 2014
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/17/5816.abstract
AB Social animals constantly make decisions together. What determines if individuals will subsequently adjust their behavior to align with collective choices? Here, using functional magnetic resonance imaging in humans, we characterize a novel temporal model of brain response from the time a collective decision is made to the time an individual action is required. We reveal that whether a behavioral modification will occur is determined not necessarily by the brain's response to the initial social influence, but by how that response (specifically in the orbitofrontal cortex; OFC) is mirrored at a later time when the individual selects their own action. This result suggests that the OFC may reconstitute an initial state of collective influence when individual action is subsequently needed. Importantly, these dynamics vary across individuals as a function of trait conformity and mediate the relationship between this personality characteristic and behavioral adjustment toward the group.