Neuronal Prediction of Opponent’s Behavior during Cooperative Social Interchange in Primates

• Cingulate neurons predict another agent’s unknown decisions during social interaction
• Other-predictive neurons are sensitive to social context, but not to expected reward
• Distinct cingulate neurons encode the individual’s own decisions to cooperate or defect
• Disrupting cingulate activity selectively inhibits mutually beneficial interactions

SummaryA cornerstone of successful social interchange is the ability to anticipate each other’s intentions or actions. While generating these internal predictions is essential for constructive social behavior, their single neuronal basis and causal underpinnings are unknown. Here, we discover specific neurons in the primate dorsal anterior cingulate that selectively predict an opponent’s yet unknown decision to invest in their common good or defect and distinct neurons that encode the monkey’s own current decision based on prior outcomes. Mixed population predictions of the other was remarkably near optimal compared to behavioral decoders. Moreover, disrupting cingulate activity selectively biased mutually beneficial interactions between the monkeys but, surprisingly, had no influence on their decisions when no net-positive outcome was possible. These findings identify a group of other-predictive neurons in the primate anterior cingulate essential for enacting cooperative interactions and may pave a way toward the targeted treatment of social behavioral disorders.Video Abstract To view the video inline, enable JavaScript on your browser. However, you can download and view the video by clicking on the icon belowHelp with MP4 filesOptionsDownload video (62954 K)

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