Development of ecological methods for investigating prosocial behavior with economic games and analysis of neural timecourses using fNIRS

• Grant number: 22/16017-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: June 30, 2023
• End date: June 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Cognitive Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Sérgio Boggio
• Grantee: Waldir Monteiro Sampaio
• Supervisor: Matthew Dylan Lieberman
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (UPM). Instituto Presbiteriano Mackenzie. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/27100-1 - Effects of breach of anonymity and privacy of the group on cooperative behavior: a study with public goods game and functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), BP.DR

Abstract

In this research project, we aim to develop a new and more ecological experimental method to understand the neurophysiological underpinnings of cooperative behavior using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to collect and neural reference groups, and intersubject correlation methods to analyse the data. Traditional methods for studying cooperation often rely on artificial and controlled tasks, which do not accurately reflect real-life social interactions. Our proposed method will involve using fNIRS to measure brain activity during naturalistic cooperative tasks, such as problem-solving or decision-making. The proposed method will be tested using a series of experiments with human participants, who will be engaged in cooperative tasks in various social contexts. By applying neural reference groups and intersubject correlation analysis, we will be able to identify patterns of neural activity that are shared across individuals and are correlated with cooperative behavior. This research will provide a more ecological and informative approach to studying the neural basis of cooperation. (AU)