Neural substrates for moral judgments of psychological versus physical harm

Although harm primarily elicits thoughts of physical injuries, harm can also take the form of negative psychological impact. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined the extent to which moral judgments of physical and psychological harms are processed similarly, focusing on brain regions implicated in mental state reasoning or theory of mind, a key cognitive process for moral judgment. Univariate analyses reveal similar levels of theory of mind processing for psychological and physical harms, though multivariate pattern analyses (MVPA) reveal sensitivity to the psychological/physical distinction in two regions implicated in theory of mind: the right temporoparietal junction and the precuneus. Moreover, while there were no differences in neurotypical adults and adults with autism spectrum disorder with regard to neural activity related to theory of mind, there was a group difference in the recruitment of the anterior cingulate cortex for psychological versus physical harms. Altogether, these results reveal sensitivity within regions implicated in theory of mind to the physical / psychological distinction as well as neural processes that capture clinically relevant differences in evaluations of psychological harms versus physical harms.

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Asking ‘why?’ enhances theory of mind when evaluating harm but not purity violations

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience ◽

10.1093/scan/nsz048 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (7) ◽

pp. 699-708 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

James A Dungan ◽

Liane Young

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Mental States ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Judgment Task ◽

Moral Judgments ◽

Moral Norms ◽

Temporoparietal Junction ◽

Task Instructions ◽

Right Temporoparietal Junction ◽

The Right

Abstract Recent work in psychology and neuroscience has revealed important differences in the cognitive processes underlying judgments of harm and purity violations. In particular, research has demonstrated that whether a violation was committed intentionally vs accidentally has a larger impact on moral judgments of harm violations (e.g. assault) than purity violations (e.g. incest). Here, we manipulate the instructions provided to participants for a moral judgment task to further probe the boundary conditions of this intent effect. Specifically, we instructed participants undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging to attend to either a violator’s mental states (why they acted that way) or their low-level behavior (how they acted) before delivering moral judgments. Results revealed that task instructions enhanced rather than diminished differences between how harm and purity violations are processed in brain regions for mental state reasoning or theory of mind. In particular, activity in the right temporoparietal junction increased when participants were instructed to attend to why vs how a violator acted to a greater extent for harm than for purity violations. This result constrains the potential accounts of why intentions matter less for purity violations compared to harm violations and provide further insight into the differences between distinct moral norms.

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Short-term stability of complex-explicit ‘theory of mind’ and its relation to socio-communicative symptoms in adults with autism spectrum disorder: Preliminary results

Magyar Pszichológiai Szemle ◽

10.1556/mpszle.69.2014.1.7 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 69 (1) ◽

pp. 117-143

Author(s):

Miklós Győri ◽

Zsófia Borsos ◽

Krisztina Stefanik

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Theory Of Mind ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Short Term ◽

Adults With Autism ◽

Preliminary Results ◽

Term Stability ◽

Explicit Theory

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Theory of Mind network activity is associated with metaethical judgment: An item analysis

10.31234/osf.io/gb5am ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jordan E. Theriault ◽

Adam Waytz ◽

Larisa Heiphetz ◽

Liane Young

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Item Analysis ◽

Positive Association ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Network Activity ◽

Predictive Processing ◽

Temporoparietal Junction ◽

Social Tasks ◽

Stimulus Features

The theory of mind network (ToMN) is a set of brain regions activated by a variety of social tasks. Recent work has proposed that these associations with ToMN activity may relate to a common underlying computation: processing prediction error in social contexts. The present work presents evidence consistent with this hypothesis, using a fine-grained item analysis to examine the relationship between ToMN activity and variance in stimulus features. We used an existing dataset (consisting of statements about morals, facts, and preferences) to explore variability in ToMN activity elicited by moral statements, using metaethical judgments (i.e. judgments of how fact-like/preference-like morals are) as a proxy for their predictability/support by social consensus. Study 1 validated expected patterns of behavioral judgments in our stimuli set, and Study 2 associated by-stimulus estimates of metaethical judgment with ToMN activity, showing that ToMN activity was negatively associated with objective morals and positively associated with subjective morals. Whole brain analyses indicated that these associations were strongest in bilateral temporoparietal junction (TPJ). We also observed additional by-stimulus associations with ToMN, including positive associations with the presence of a person (across morals, facts, and preferences), a negative association with agreement (among morals only), and a positive association with mental inference (in preferences only, across 3 independent measures and behavioral samples). We discuss these findings in the context of recent predictive processing models, and highlight how predictive models may facilitate new perspectives on metaethics, the centrality of morality to personal identity, and distinctions between social domains (e.g. morals vs. preferences).

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Exploring Cortical Attentional System by Using fMRI during a Continuous Perfomance Test

Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience ◽

10.1155/2010/329213 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2010 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

M. G. Tana ◽

E. Montin ◽

S. Cerutti ◽

A. M. Bianchi

Keyword(s):

Performance Test ◽

Continuous Performance Test ◽

Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Brain Network ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Visual Object ◽

Bold Response ◽

Object Processing ◽

The Right

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was performed in eight healthy subjects to identify the localization, magnitude, and volume extent of activation in brain regions that are involved in blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response during the performance of Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT). An extensive brain network was activated during the task including frontal, temporal, and occipital cortical areas and left cerebellum. The more activated cluster in terms of volume extent and magnitude was located in the right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Analyzing the dynamic trend of the activation in the identified areas during the entire duration of the sustained attention test, we found a progressive decreasing of BOLD response probably due to a habituation effect without any deterioration of the performances. The observed brain network is consistent with existing models of visual object processing and attentional control and may serve as a basis for fMRI studies in clinical populations with neuropsychological deficits in Conners' CPT performance.

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Moral judgement by the disconnected left and right cerebral hemispheres: a split-brain investigation

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.170172 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (7) ◽

pp. 170172 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Conor M. Steckler ◽

J. Kiley Hamlin ◽

Michael B. Miller ◽

Danielle King ◽

Alan Kingstone

Keyword(s):

Brain Research ◽

Right Hemisphere ◽

Mental States ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Moral Judgement ◽

Temporoparietal Junction ◽

Split Brain ◽

Moral Judgements ◽

The Right ◽

Necessary And Sufficient

Owing to the hemispheric isolation resulting from a severed corpus callosum, research on split-brain patients can help elucidate the brain regions necessary and sufficient for moral judgement. Notably, typically developing adults heavily weight the intentions underlying others' moral actions, placing greater importance on valenced intentions versus outcomes when assigning praise and blame. Prioritization of intent in moral judgements may depend on neural activity in the right hemisphere's temporoparietal junction, an area implicated in reasoning about mental states. To date, split-brain research has found that the right hemisphere is necessary for intent-based moral judgement. When testing the left hemisphere using linguistically based moral vignettes, split-brain patients evaluate actions based on outcomes, not intentions. Because the right hemisphere has limited language ability relative to the left, and morality paradigms to date have involved significant linguistic demands, it is currently unknown whether the right hemisphere alone generates intent-based judgements. Here we use nonlinguistic morality plays with split-brain patient J.W. to examine the moral judgements of the disconnected right hemisphere, demonstrating a clear focus on intent. This finding indicates that the right hemisphere is not only necessary but also sufficient for intent-based moral judgement, advancing research into the neural systems supporting the moral sense.

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Neuronal Substrates Underlying Performance Variability in Well-Trained Skillful Motor Task in Humans

Neural Plasticity ◽

10.1155/2016/1245259 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Nobuaki Mizuguchi ◽

Shintaro Uehara ◽

Satoshi Hirose ◽

Shinji Yamamoto ◽

Eiichi Naito

Keyword(s):

Task Performance ◽

Motor Skill ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Motor Task ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Cerebellar Hemisphere ◽

Intensive Training ◽

Performance Variability ◽

The Right

Motor performance fluctuates trial by trial even in a well-trained motor skill. Here we show neural substrates underlying such behavioral fluctuation in humans. We first scanned brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging while healthy participants repeatedly performed a 10 s skillful sequential finger-tapping task. Before starting the experiment, the participants had completed intensive training. We evaluated task performance per trial (number of correct sequences in 10 s) and depicted brain regions where the activity changes in association with the fluctuation of the task performance across trials. We found that the activity in a broader range of frontoparietocerebellar network, including the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate and anterior insular cortices, and left cerebellar hemisphere, was negatively correlated with the task performance. We further showed in another transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) experiment that task performance deteriorated, when we applied anodal tDCS to the right DLPFC. These results indicate that fluctuation of brain activity in the nonmotor frontoparietocerebellar network may underlie trial-by-trial performance variability even in a well-trained motor skill, and its neuromodulation with tDCS may affect the task performance.

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Lithium prevents grey matter atrophy in patients with bipolar disorder: an international multicenter study

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291719004112 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Franz Hozer ◽

Samuel Sarrazin ◽

Charles Laidi ◽

Pauline Favre ◽

Melissa Pauling ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Grey Matter ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Type I ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Neuroprotective Effects ◽

History Of ◽

International Multicenter Study ◽

The Right

Abstract Background Lithium (Li) is the gold standard treatment for bipolar disorder (BD). However, its mechanisms of action remain unknown but include neurotrophic effects. We here investigated the influence of Li on cortical and local grey matter (GM) volumes in a large international sample of patients with BD and healthy controls (HC). Methods We analyzed high-resolution T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance imaging scans of 271 patients with BD type I (120 undergoing Li) and 316 HC. Cortical and local GM volumes were compared using voxel-wise approaches with voxel-based morphometry and SIENAX using FSL. We used multiple linear regression models to test the influence of Li on cortical and local GM volumes, taking into account potential confounding factors such as a history of alcohol misuse. Results Patients taking Li had greater cortical GM volume than patients without. Patients undergoing Li had greater regional GM volumes in the right middle frontal gyrus, the right anterior cingulate gyrus, and the left fusiform gyrus in comparison with patients not taking Li. Conclusions Our results in a large multicentric sample support the hypothesis that Li could exert neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects limiting pathological GM atrophy in key brain regions associated with BD.

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Neurofunctional Effects of Cannabis on Response Inhibition

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(09)70441-9 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 24 (S1) ◽

pp. 1-1 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

S. Borgwardt ◽

P. Allen ◽

S. Bhattacharyya ◽

P. Fusar-Poli ◽

J.A. Crippa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Response Inhibition ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Temporal Cortex ◽

Brain Regions ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Psychotic Symptoms ◽

Double Blind ◽

Subject Design ◽

Mediate Response ◽

The Right

Background:This study examined the effect of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) on brain activation during a motor inhibition task.Methods:Functional magnetic resonance imaging and behavioural measures were recorded while 15 healthy volunteers performed a Go/No-Go task following administration of either THC or CBD or placebo in a double-blind, pseudo-randomized, placebo-controlled repeated measures within-subject design.Results:Relative to placebo, THC attenuated activation in the right inferior frontal and the anterior cingulate gyrus. In contrast, CBD deactivated the left temporal cortex and insula. These effects were not related to changes in anxiety, intoxication, sedation, and psychotic symptoms.Conclusions:These data suggest that THC attenuates the engagement of brain regions that mediate response inhibition. CBD modulated function in regions not usually implicated in response inhibition.

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