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 be directed at the “real”or “ideal”world. Moreover, when people decide, they could adopt an individual or group orientation. In the first type of orientation, people consider the task and personal needs as more relevant than relationships, while group orientation is characterized by a high value placed on relationships and consideration of others’perspectives. This study explored the neural localization of group or individual orientation, while people mentally represented their ideal and real work group. Sixteen health participants performed a novel decision-making task, identifying themselves with a critical scenario and rating items about how the real and ideal group could solve the problem. A non-invasive electroencephalogram was adopted to collect brain activity (i.e., alpha and gamma band) in four regions of interest [Frontal 1 (F1: AFF5h, Fp1), Frontal 2 (F2: Aff6h, Fp2), Temporo-parietal 1 (TP1: T7; P3), Temporo-parietal 2 (TP2: T8; P4)]. The manipulation of mental representations (ideal versus real) was responsible for different cortical networks concerning group and individual orientations, particularly for the alpha and gamma bands. A more cognitive effort in creating mental representation and information processing, as well as memory processing, defined the individual orientation in ideal representation. Furthermore, increased temporoparietal region activation - especially in the real representation ‒was reported in the group orientation.