Understanding identification-based trust in the light of affiliative bonding: Meta-analytic neuroimaging evidence. (December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wu, Yan; Veerareddy, Apoorva; Lee, Mary R.; Bellucci, Gabriele; Camilleri, Julia A.; Eickhoff, Simon B.; Krueger, Frank
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. Volume 131(2021)
• Page Start: 627
• Page End: 641
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Subjects: Interpersonal trust -- Affiliative bonding -- Identification-based trust -- Mesolimbic pathway -- Nigrostriatal pathway -- Mesocortical pathway; Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Human behavior -- Periodicals; Animal behavior -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Behavior -- Periodicals; Ethology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychophysiologie -- Périodiques; Comportement humain -- Périodiques; Animaux -- Mœurs et comportement -- Périodiques; Neurologie -- Périodiques; Animal behavior; Human behavior; Neurology; Psychophysiology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 573.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.09.053
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0149-7634

Abstract

Highlights: Identification-based trust encompasses the mesolimbic pathway. Affiliative bonding engages the mesocortical dopaminergic pathway. Identification-based trust and affiliative bonding overlap in the nigrostriatal pathway. Abstract: Trust is vital for establishing social relationships and is a crucial precursor for affiliative bonds. Investigations explored the neuropsychological bases of trust separately (e.g., measured by the trust game) and affiliative bonding (e.g., measured by parental care, pair-bonding, or friendship). However, direct empirical support for the shared neural mechanisms between trust and affiliative bonding is missing. Here, we conducted a coordinate-based meta-analysis on functional magnetic resonance imaging studies on interpersonal trust and affiliative bonding using the activation likelihood estimation method. Our results demonstrated that decisions to trust strangers in repeated interactions (i.e., identification-based trust) engaged the ventral striatum (vSTR, part of the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway), likely signaling the reward anticipation. Further, both feedbacks in repeated interactions and affiliative bonding engaged the dorsal striatum (dSTR, part of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway), likely encoding learning dynamics. Our findings suggest that identification-based trust can be understood in the light of affiliative bonding, involving the mesocorticolimbic "reward" pathway (vSTR) and nigrostriatal "habit formation" pathway (dSTR) in building and sustaining social relationships.