An amygdala-mediated simulation-to-decision cascade aligns interbrain dynamics to solve social dilemmas

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 19 October 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02473-z

Using simultaneous intracranial recordings from interacting human brains, Ma et al. show that mutual cooperation emerges when amygdala activity aligns across partners and predictions about a partner guide each person’s own decisions.