Feedback from an avatar facilitates risk-taking by modulating the amygdala response to feedback uncertainty

With the rise of cyberspace technologies, communication through avatars has become increasingly common. However, the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying behavioral changes induced by avatar interactions remain poorly understood, particularly when avatars serve as communication partners. To ad...

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Published in:PLoS biology Vol. 23; no. 4; p. e3003122
Main Authors: Tanaka, Toshiko, Haruno, Masahiko
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.04.2025
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:
Adult
Amygdala
Amygdala (Brain)
Amygdala - diagnostic imaging
Amygdala - physiology
Analysis
Avatar
Avatars
Behavior
Biology and Life Sciences
Communication
Expected values
Experiments
Facial Expression
Feedback
Feedback (Psychology)
Feedback, Psychological - physiology
Female
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Gambling
Gambling - psychology
Health aspects
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Medical examination
Medicine and Health Sciences
Research and Analysis Methods
Risk
Risk taking
Social anxiety
Social behavior
Social interaction
Social interactions
Social Sciences
Uncertainty
Variance analysis
Virtual reality
Young Adult
Japan
ISSN:1545-7885, 1544-9173, 1545-7885
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:With the rise of cyberspace technologies, communication through avatars has become increasingly common. However, the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying behavioral changes induced by avatar interactions remain poorly understood, particularly when avatars serve as communication partners. To address this gap and uncover the biological mechanisms involved, we conducted behavioral ( n = 28) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) ( n = 51) experiments using a simple gambling task. Participants received dynamic facial-expression feedback from either a human observer presented as an avatar or a real human face based on the outcome (win or no-win) of each gambling trial. Our results showed that expecting avatar feedback significantly increased gambling behavior in both behavioral and fMRI settings. Computational modeling revealed that differences in risk-taking behavior between the avatar and human conditions were associated with differential valuation of feedback uncertainty. Furthermore, we found that the amygdala encodes the differential valuation of feedback uncertainty, where a negative response to feedback uncertainty played a key role in choosing a gambling option. Additionally, we found that individual differences in behavioral and neural valuation of feedback uncertainty correlate with the questionnaire score that measures emotional consideration of another person’s internal states. These results demonstrate the facilitation of risk-taking behavior by avatar feedback and its underlying cognitive and neural mechanisms, thus providing deeper biological insights into risk-taking behavior and implications for human social interactions using avatars.
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The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:1545-7885
1544-9173
1545-7885
DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.3003122