Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that our preferences are modulated by the mere act of choosing. A choice between two similarly valued alternatives creates psychological tension (cognitive dissonance) that is reduced by a postdecisional reevaluation of the alternatives. We measured EEG of human subjects during rest and free-choice paradigm. Our study demonstrates that choices associated with stronger cognitive dissonance trigger a larger negative frontocentral evoked response similar to error-related negativity, which has in turn been implicated in general performance monitoring. Furthermore, the amplitude of the evoked response is correlated with the reevaluation of the alternatives. We also found a link between individual neural dynamics (long-range temporal correlations) of the frontocentral cortices during rest and follow-up neural and behavioral effects of cognitive dissonance. Individuals with stronger restingstate long-range temporal correlations demonstrated a greater postdecisional reevaluation of the alternatives and larger evoked brain responses associated with stronger cognitive dissonance. Thus, our results suggest that cognitive dissonance is reflected in both restingstate and choice-related activity of the prefrontal cortex as part of the general performance-monitoring circuitry.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5074-5083
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Neuroscience
Volume37
Issue number20
DOIs
StatePublished - 17 May 2017

    Scopus subject areas

  • Neuroscience(all)

    Research areas

  • Cognitive dissonance, Error-related negativity, Long-range temporal correlation, Resting state, Spread of alternatives

ID: 95022988