Humans have an exceptional ability to cooperate relative to many other species. We review the neural mechanisms supporting human cooperation, focusing on the prefrontal cortex. One key feature of human social life is the prevalence of cooperative norms that guide social behavior and prescribe punishment for noncompliance. Taking a comparative approach, we consider shared and unique aspects of cooperative behaviors in humans relative to nonhuman primates, as well as divergences in brain structure that might support uniquely human aspects of cooperation. We highlight a medial prefrontal network common to nonhuman primates and humans supporting a foundational process in cooperative decision-making: valuing outcomes for oneself and others. This medial prefrontal network interacts with lateral prefrontal areas that are thought to represent cooperative norms and modulate value representations to guide behavior appropriate to the local social context. Finally, we propose that more recently evolved anterior regions of prefrontal cortex play a role in arbitrating between cooperative norms across social contexts, and suggest how future research might fruitfully examine the neural basis of norm arbitration.

与许多其他物种相比，人类具有非凡的合作能力。我们回顾了支持人类合作的神经机制，重点关注前额叶皮层。人类社会生活的一个关键特征是合作规范的普遍存在，这些规范指导社会行为并规定对不遵守行为的惩罚。采用比较方法，我们考虑了人类相对于非人类灵长类动物合作行为的共同和独特方面，以及可能支持人类独特合作方面的大脑结构差异。我们强调非人类灵长类动物和人类共同的内侧前额叶网络支持合作决策的基本过程：重视自己和他人的结果。这个内侧前额叶网络与外侧前额叶区域相互作用，这些区域被认为代表合作规范并调节价值表征以指导适合当地社会背景的行为。最后，我们提出最近进化的前额叶皮层前部区域在跨社会背景的合作规范之间进行仲裁，并建议未来的研究如何有效地检验规范仲裁的神经基础。