Ideal and real mental representation in individual or group-oriented people: a neuroscientific prospective

During the decision-making process, people create mental representations of the situation, that could\r\nbe directed at the “real”or “ideal”world. Moreover, when people decide, they could adopt an individual\r\nor group orientation. In the first type of orientation, people consider the task and personal\r\nneeds as more relevant than relationships, while group orientation is characterized by a high value\r\nplaced on relationships and consideration of others’perspectives. This study explored the neural\r\nlocalization of group or individual orientation, while people mentally represented their ideal and\r\nreal work group. Sixteen health participants performed a novel decision-making task, identifying\r\nthemselves with a critical scenario and rating items about how the real and ideal group could solve\r\nthe problem. A non-invasive electroencephalogram was adopted to collect brain activity (i.e., alpha\r\nand gamma band) in four regions of interest [Frontal 1 (F1: AFF5h, Fp1), Frontal 2 (F2: Aff6h, Fp2),\r\nTemporo-parietal 1 (TP1: T7; P3), Temporo-parietal 2 (TP2: T8; P4)]. The manipulation of mental\r\nrepresentations (ideal versus real) was responsible for different cortical networks concerning group\r\nand individual orientations, particularly for the alpha and gamma bands. A more cognitive effort in\r\ncreating mental representation and information processing, as well as memory processing, defined\r\nthe individual orientation in ideal representation. Furthermore, increased temporoparietal region\r\nactivation - especially in the real representation ‒was reported in the group orientation.