Neural correlates of evaluations of lying and truth-telling in different social contexts

The present study examined the neural correlates of evaluations of both lying and truth-telling in different social contexts using fMRI methodology. The results demonstrated the differentiation between lying and truth-telling and between different types of lying in a network of brain regions. These regions included bilateral superior frontal gyrus (SFG), bilateral inferior parietal lobule (IPL), bilateral cuneus, right lingual gyrus (LG), right precuneus, and left postcentral gyrus (PoCG). Additionally, we found that activations in the right LG, the left IPL and the left PoCG were correlated with the off-line evaluations of truthful and untruthful communications about good and bad acts in different social contexts. These results suggest that the judgments of lying and truth-telling involving a third party might not be emotion-arousing but involve rational processing. This study is among the first to demonstrate that evaluations of truthful and untruthful communications in different social contexts can be differentiated in terms of brain BOLD (blood-oxygen-level-dependent) activities.

Research highlight
► Evaluations of lying and truth-telling in different social contexts can be differentiated in terms of brain BOLD (blood-oxygen-level-dependent) activities.
► Activations in the right lingual gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, and the postcentral gyrus predict evaluations of lying and truth-telling.
► The activation in the postcentral gyrus specifically predicts evaluations of lying about good acts.
► Evaluations of lying and truth-telling about a third party engage mainly the rational “moral brain”.