A study of trust behavior and its neural basis in athletes under long-term exercise training

Previous research has suggested that long-term exercise training can influence trusting behaviors, but the supporting evidence is limited. Therefore, exploring inter-athlete trust behaviors and its neural mechanism could better answer the potential association between athletic training and trust behaviors. Accordingly, the present study used a trust game (TG) task to assess interpersonal trust behavior in the sex-specific athlete group and the ordinary college group; and a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning technology was used to capture the interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) in brain regions of interest to the dyads. The results showed that the athlete group had significantly higher trust behaviors and significantly higher INS in the left frontal pole and left dorsolateral prefrontal than the college group; male athletes had significantly higher trust behaviors and significantly higher INS in the left dorsolateral prefrontal than female athletes. This study suggests that athletes have better trusting behaviors and that this advantage may be related to enhanced INS in the left dorsolateral prefrontal lobe.