Poker Brain Crucial for Bluffing

Duke University research: a special region of the brain used for bluffing in poker

According to a research from Duke University, theres a specific region of the human brain that influences bluffing calls in poker, and reacts differently when a player is using a computer as opposed to challenging or bluffing an opponent face-to-face.

Namely, observing the neural reactions of people competing in a poker game, both against a computer and against an opponent the participants knew to be human, using sophisticated scanning and neural imaging technology, researchers found that the temporal-parietal junction in the brain carries information essential to making decisions about who might be a worthy opponent and whether to bluff.

It was stated by Duke research director Scott Huettel that quot;Often the brain is considered to have an entire ‘social network’ comprising a number of regions that help us interact with others in social contexts.

quot;Our analyses looked at all of those regions and found that all but one responded in essentially the same way against the human and computer opponents.quot;

He also added that, surprisingly, researchers found that the temporal-parietal junction was used exclusively in making decisions on interactions with another person.

Thereby, according to a lead researcher McKell Carter, the region, located on the perimeter of the brain, combines information gleaned by attention and by biology, such as, quot;Is that another person?quot;

Thanks to the fact that humans prefer to be social, they therefore pay greater attention to their human than cyber opponents, he explained.