Reputation risk modulates Anterior Insular and Cingulate cortex during dishonest decision-making.

To explore the neural underpinnings of (dis)honest decision-making under quasi-ecological conditions, we used an fMRI-adapted version of a card game in which deceptive or truthful decisions are made to an opponent, with or without the risk of getting caught by them. Dishonest decisions were associated with increased activity in a cortico-subcortical circuit, including the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior insula (AI), left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, supplementary motor area, and right caudate. Crucially, deceptive, immoral decisions under reputation risk enhanced activity of – and functional connectivity between – the bilateral ACC and left AI, suggesting the need for heightened emotional processing and cognitive control when making immoral decisions under reputation risk. Tellingly, more manipulative individuals required less involvement of the ACC during risky self-gain lies but more involvement during other-gain truths, pointing to the need for cognitive control only when going against one’s moral code.