Elsevier

NeuroImage

Volume 15, Issue 3, March 2002, Pages 727-732
NeuroImage

Rapid Communication
Brain Activity during Simulated Deception: An Event-Related Functional Magnetic Resonance Study

https://doi.org/10.1006/nimg.2001.1003Get rights and content

Abstract

TheGuilty Knowledge Test (GKT) has been used extensively to model deception. An association between the brain evoked response potentials and lying on the GKT suggests that deception may be associated with changes in other measures of brain activity such as regional blood flow that could be anatomically localized with event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Blood oxygenation level-dependent fMRI contrasts between deceptive and truthful responses were measured with a 4 Tesla scanner in 18 participants performing the GKT and analyzed using statistical parametric mapping. Increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and the left premotor, motor, and anterior parietal cortex was specifically associated with deceptive responses. The results indicate that: (a) cognitive differences between deception and truth have neural correlates detectable by fMRI, (b) inhibition of the truthful response may be a basic component of intentional deception, and (c) ACC and SFG are components of the basic neural circuitry for deception.

References (44)

  • Augustine, S.1948. De mendacio. In Opuscules, Vol. II, Problèmes moraux, pp. 244–245. de Brouwer,...
  • J.F. Bates et al.

    Prefrontal connections of medial motor areas in the rhesus monkey

    J. Comp. Neurol.

    (1993)
  • A. Bechara et al.

    Emotion, decision making and the orbitofrontal cortex

    Cereb. Cortex

    (2000)
  • M.A. Burock et al.

    Randomized event-related experimental designs allow for extremely rapid presentation rates using functional MRI

    NeuroReport

    (1998)
  • C.S. Carter et al.

    Anterior cingulate cortex, error detection, and the online monitoring of performance

    Science

    (1998)
  • C.S. Carter et al.

    Parsing executive processes: Strategic vs. evaluative functions of the anterior cingulate cortex

    Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA

    (2000)
  • W. Chen et al.

    Principle of BOLD–functional fMRI

  • D.L. Chute et al.

    Fifth generation research tools: Collaborative development with PowerLaboratory

    Behav. Res. Methods Instruments Comput.

    (1996)
  • H.D. Critchley et al.

    Neural activity relating to generation and representation of galvanic skin conductance responses: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

    J. Neurosci.

    (2000)
  • R.J. Davidson et al.

    Approach–withdrawal and cerebral asymmetry: Emotional expression and brain physiology. I

    J. Pers. Soc. Psychol.

    (1990)
  • L.R. Derogatis et al.

    The SCL-90 and the MMPI: A step in the validation of a new self-report scale

    Br. J. Psychiatry

    (1976)
  • Cited by (367)

    • Cognitive control and dishonesty

      2022, Trends in Cognitive Sciences
    • The neuropsychological basis of deception

      2021, Encyclopedia of Behavioral Neuroscience: Second Edition
    • Fundamental Neuroethics

      2024, Neuroethics and Cultural Diversity
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    1

    To whom correspondence should be addressed at the University of Pennsylvania Treatment Research Center, 3900 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Fax: (215) 386-6770. E-mail: [email protected].

    View full text