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The vicarious reward we receive from watching likable others obtaining a positive outcome is a pervasive phenomenon, yet its neural correlates are poorly understood. Here, we conducted a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments to test the hypothesis that the brain areas responsible for action observation and reward processing work in a coordinated fashion during vicarious reward. In the first experiment (manipulation phase), the participant was instructed to cheer for a particular player in a two-player competitive game (Rock-Paper-Scissors). This manipulation made participants feel more unity with that player and resulted in unity-related activation in the premotor area during action observation. In the following main experiment, the participant witnessed the previously cheered-for or non-cheered-for player succeed in a new solitary game (a stopwatch game). The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) was activated when the cheered-for player succeeded in the game but not when the other player did. Interestingly, this vmPFC activation was functionally connected with premotor activation only during the cheered-for player's success. These results suggest that vicarious reward is processed in the vmPFC-premotor network, which is activated specifically by the success of the other person with whom the individual feels unity and closeness.

Coordinated activation of premotor and ventromedial prefrontal cortices during vicarious reward