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Neuronal Mechanisms of Strategic Cooperation

View ORCID ProfileWei Song Ong, View ORCID ProfileSeth Madlon-Kay, Michael L. Platt
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/500850
Wei Song Ong
1Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
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  • For correspondence: weisong.o@gmail.com
Seth Madlon-Kay
1Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
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Michael L. Platt
1Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
2Department of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
3Marketing Department, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
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Summary

Here we demonstrate that during strategic gameplay monkeys behave as if they reason recursively about other individuals’ beliefs and desires in order to predict their choices and to guide their own actions, especially the decision to cooperate. Neurons in mid superior temporal sulcus (mSTS), the putative homolog of the human temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), signal abstract non-perceptual social information, including payoffs, intentions, and outcomes, and further distinguish between social and nonsocial agents while monkeys play the game. We demonstrate for the first time that a subpopulation of these neurons selectively signals cooperatively obtained rewards. Neurons in the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACCg), an area implicated in vicarious reinforcement and empathy, do not distinguish agency and as a population carry less information about strategic variables. These findings suggest the capacity to mentalize has deep roots in the strategic social behavior of primates, and endorse mSTS as the evolutionary wellspring of these functions.

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Posted December 18, 2018.
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Neuronal Mechanisms of Strategic Cooperation
Wei Song Ong, Seth Madlon-Kay, Michael L. Platt
bioRxiv 500850; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/500850
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Neuronal Mechanisms of Strategic Cooperation
Wei Song Ong, Seth Madlon-Kay, Michael L. Platt
bioRxiv 500850; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/500850

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