The role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in deception when remembering neutral and emotional events

• Published in: Neuroscience research Vol. 69; no. 2; pp. 121 - 128
• Main Authors: Ito, Ayahito, Abe, Nobuhito, Fujii, Toshikatsu, Ueno, Aya, Koseki, Yuta, Hashimoto, Ryusaku, Mugikura, Shunji, Takahashi, Shoki, Mori, Etsuro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01-02-2011
• Subjects: Adult; Brain Mapping; Deception; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Emotion; Emotions - physiology; Executive function; Female; Functional MRI; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Memory - physiology; Prefrontal Cortex - physiology; Young Adult; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Executive function; Functional MRI; Emotion; Deception
• ISSN: 0168-0102; 1872-8111
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neures.2010.11.001

▶ Evidence for how the DLPFC contributes to different types of deception is limited. ▶ We used fMRI to explore the neural basis of lying about neutral and emotional events. ▶ The DLPFC plays a critical role in the executive aspects of deception. ▶ The DLPFC functions in lying, regardless of the emotional valence of memory content.
We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of deception while remembering neutral events and emotional events. Before fMRI, subjects were presented with a series of neutral and emotional pictures and were asked to rate each picture for arousal. During fMRI, subjects were presented with the studied and nonstudied pictures and were asked to make an honest recognition judgment in response to half of the pictures and a dishonest response to the remaining half. We found that deception pertaining to the memory of neutral pictures was associated with increased activity in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and the left orbitofrontal cortex. We also found that deception while remembering emotional pictures was associated with increased activity in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. An overlapping activation between the two types of deception was found in the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Our results indicate that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is associated with the executive aspects of deception, regardless of the emotional valence of memory content.