Multivoxel Pattern Analysis Reveals a Neural Phenotype for Trust Bias in Adolescents

J Cogn Neurosci. 2019 Nov;31(11):1726-1741. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_01448. Epub 2019 Jul 19.

Abstract

The extent to which individuals are inclined to judge unfamiliar others as trustworthy can have important implications for social functioning. Using multivariate pattern analysis, a neural phenotype of trust bias was identified in 48 human adolescents (ages 14-18 years, 26 female). Adolescents who exhibited more similar brain response to faces at the extremes of a trustworthy gradient were more likely to rate neutral faces as trustworthy. This relation between neural pattern representation and trust bias was evinced in the amygdala. Amygdala-insula connectivity dissimilarity to faces at the extremes of the trustworthy gradient was associated with greater trust bias to neutral faces, serving as a distinct circuit-level contributor to decision-making over and above of amygdala pattern similarity. These findings aid understanding of neural mechanisms contributing to individual differences in social evaluations of ambiguity.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Amygdala / diagnostic imaging
  • Amygdala / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping / methods*
  • Cerebral Cortex / diagnostic imaging
  • Cerebral Cortex / physiology*
  • Decision Making / physiology*
  • Facial Recognition / physiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Phenotype
  • Social Perception*
  • Trust*