Lateralization of self-control over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in decision-making: a systematic review and meta-analytic evidence from noninvasive brain stimulation

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been widely recognized as a crucial brain "control area." Recently, its causal role in promoting deliberate decision-making through self-control and the asymmetric performance of the left and right DLPFC in control functions have attracted the interest of many researchers. This study was designed to investigate the role of DLPFC in decision-making behaviors and lateralization of its control function by systematically examining the effects of noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) over the DLPFC on intertemporal choice, risk decision-making, and social fairness-related decision-making tasks. Literature searches were implemented at PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, Wanfang Data, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure until May 10, 2022. Meta-analytic results for included studies were estimated by random-effect models. A total of 33 eligible studies were identified, yielding 130 effect sizes. Our results indicated that compared to sham group, excitatory NIBS over the left DLPFC reduced delay discounting rate (standardized mean differences, SMD = -0.51; 95% confidence interval, 95% CI: [-0.81, -0.21]) and risk-taking performance (SMD = -0.39, 95% CI [-0.68, -0.10]), and inhibitory NIBS over the right DLPFC increased self-interested choice of unfair offers (SMD = 0.50, 95% CI [0.04, 0.97]). Finding of current work indicated that neural excitement of the DLPFC activation improve individuals' self-control during decision-makings, whereas neural inhibition results in impaired control. In addition, our analyses furnish causal evidence for the presence of functional lateralization in the left and right DLPFC in monetary impulsive decision-making and social decision-making, respectively.