Neural computations underpinning the strategic management of influence in advice giving

Research on social influence has focused mainly on the target of influence (e.g., consumer and voter); thus, the cognitive and neurobiological underpinnings of the source of the influence (e.g., politicians and salesmen) remain unknown. Here, in a three-sided advice-giving game, two advisers competed to influence a client by modulating their own confidence in their advice about which lottery the client should choose. We report that advisers’ strategy depends on their level of influence on the client and their merit relative to one another. Moreover, blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signal in the temporo-parietal junction is modulated by adviser’s current level of influence on the client, and relative merit prediction error affects activity in medial-prefrontal cortex. Both types of social information modulate ventral striatum response. By demonstrating what happens in our mind and brain when we try to influence others, these results begin to explain the biological mechanisms that shape inter-individual differences in social conduct.Though it's important to influence others' decisions, the neural correlates of persuasive strategies are not known. Here, authors show that people change their advice based on its accuracy and whether they are being listened to, and identify the distinct brain regions underpinning each strategy.

• Publication year

  2017

• Venue

  bioRxiv

• Publication date

  2017-09-18

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1038/s41467-017-02314-5PMID 29259152PMCID 5736665
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• Ventral striatum response was modulated by both kinds of social information used in the task.

  Confidence 0.92

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review
• Medial-prefrontal cortex activity was driven by relative merit prediction error.

  Confidence 0.94

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review
• Temporo-parietal junction activity tracked the adviser's current level of influence on the client.

  Confidence 0.95

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review
• In the three-sided advice-giving game, advisers changed how confidently they advised the client according to their current influence on the client and their relative merit against the competing adviser.

  Confidence 0.96

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review

• adviser influence

  social variables

  The degree to which an adviser currently sways the client's choice behavior in the task.

  Aliases: current level of influence on the client, influence on the client

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review
• medial-prefrontal cortex

  brain regions

  A medial frontal cortical region examined as a neural site for processing task-related social signals.

  Aliases: mPFC

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review
• merit prediction error

  computational signals

  A trial-wise computational signal reflecting a mismatch between expected and observed relative merit between advisers.

  Aliases: relative merit prediction error

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review
• relative merit

  social variables

  The comparison of the two advisers' apparent competence or advice quality within the game.

  Aliases: merit relative to one another, relative adviser merit

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review
• social information

  social variables

  Task cues about influence and relative merit that guide advisers' strategic behavior.

  Aliases: social cues

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review
• temporo-parietal junction

  brain regions

  A cortical region at the junction of the temporal and parietal lobes that was examined as a neural site in the task.

  Aliases: TPJ

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review
• three-sided advice-giving game

  experimental paradigms

  An experimental paradigm in which two advisers compete to influence a client by giving advice about lottery choices.

  Aliases: advice-giving game, three-sided game

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review
• ventral striatum

  brain regions

  A subcortical reward-related region examined for sensitivity to social information in the task.

  Aliases: VS

  박진우 (dztg5apj7m) extractionB (s683577b42) reviewAnonymous (12632b8b5f) review

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