brain signal of COVID-19 related rumors authenticity evaluation

Here, we conducted an experiment to collect behavioral and EEG data during rumor detection. Forty-four healthy and right-handed students (23 males and 22 females, aged 18-25 years, age: 19.6 ± 1.25 years) from different faculties were recruited via university bulletins. These subjects are right-handed and have no background in neuroscience and psychology.The participants performed a credibility judgment task, in which they needed to read 80 rumors randomly presented and judge their credibility. We found that only 22% of participants could detect false rumors better than chance. The ERPs results show enhanced negative ERPs (N400) for truth decisions than false ones but larger positive ERPs (P2, P3, and LPP) for false decisions than truth. In addition, our work found sex differences during information processing related to brain activity, possibly due to different strategies employed. Males exhibited more positive P2 and enhanced N400 than females. In comparison, females displayed larger P3 and LPP amplitudes in detecting the rumors compared to males.