TY - JOUR AU - Inomata, Tsukasa AU - Zama, Takuro AU - Shimada, Sotaro PY - 2019 M3 - Original Research TI - Functional Connectivity Between Motor and Mid-Frontal Areas During Vicarious Reward Revealed via EEG Time-Frequency Analysis JO - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00428 VL - 13 SN - 1662-5161 N2 - Vicarious reward is a phenomenon in which an individual feels as if he/she has received a reward as the result of watching someone else receive a reward. In this study, we used electroencephalography to investigate brain activity while participants watched a preferred player win a competitive game (Rock-Paper-Scissors game). In the experimental task, movie clips showed right hand of the two players and played Rock-Paper-Scissors game. We asked participants to explicitly support or “cheer” for a specific player, and then examined brain activity associated with vicarious reward. For the observed hand movement, previous findings showed that the event-related desynchronization of mu band (8–14 Hz) appeared at the contra-lateral central electrode to the observed hand (If someone sees the right-hand movement, the left central electrode shows the event-related desynchronization of mu-band). During observation of the player, we detected event-related desynchronization of mu band activity in the contra-lateral central electrode as well as mid-frontal beta band (15–22 Hz) activation when the preferred player won. Furthermore, functional connectivity analysis revealed a strong phase synchronization between the contra-lateral central electrode and mid-frontal electrode in the mu band when participants received the vicarious reward. Cross-frequency coupling analysis revealed functional integration between the mu and beta bands at mid-frontal electrode. These results indicate the interaction of mu band observed at contra-lateral electrode and beta band observed at mid-frontal electrode coupling, suggesting a link between the mirror neuron system and the reward system during vicarious reward. ER -