Modulation of neural activity in the temporoparietal junction with transcranial direct current stimulation changes the role of beliefs in moral judgment
Judgments about whether an action is morally right or wrong typically depend on our capacity to infer the actor’s beliefs and the outcomes of the action. Prior neuroimaging studies have found that mental state (e.g., beliefs, intentions) attribution for moral judgment involves a complex neural netwo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00659/full |
| _version_ | 1819226276584488960 |
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| author | Hang eYe Shu eChen Daqiang eHuang Haoli eZheng Yongmin eJia Jun eLuo Jun eLuo |
| author_facet | Hang eYe Shu eChen Daqiang eHuang Haoli eZheng Yongmin eJia Jun eLuo Jun eLuo |
| author_sort | Hang eYe |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Judgments about whether an action is morally right or wrong typically depend on our capacity to infer the actor’s beliefs and the outcomes of the action. Prior neuroimaging studies have found that mental state (e.g., beliefs, intentions) attribution for moral judgment involves a complex neural network that includes the temporoparietal junction (TPJ). However, neuroimaging studies cannot demonstrate a direct causal relationship between the activity of this brain region and mental state attribution for moral judgment. In the current study, we used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to transiently alter neural activity in the TPJ. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three stimulation treatments (right anodal/left cathodal tDCS, left anodal/right cathodal tDCS, or sham stimulation). Each participant was required to complete two similar tasks of moral judgment before receiving tDCS and after receiving tDCS. We studied whether tDCS to the TPJ altered mental state attribution for moral judgment. The results indicated that restraining the activity of the right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) or the left the temporoparietal junction (LTPJ) decreased the role of beliefs in moral judgments and led to an increase in the dependence of the participants’ moral judgments on the action’s consequences. We also found that the participants exhibited reduced reaction times both in the cases of intentional harms and attempted harms after receiving right cathodal/left anodal tDCS to the TPJ. These findings inform and extend the current neural models of moral judgment and moral development in typically developing people and in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. |
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| id | doaj.art-53ef147b19694823b975e2c20bffb7b5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T10:22:55Z |
| publishDate | 2015-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-53ef147b19694823b975e2c20bffb7b52022-12-21T17:50:39ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Human Neuroscience1662-51612015-12-01910.3389/fnhum.2015.00659151427Modulation of neural activity in the temporoparietal junction with transcranial direct current stimulation changes the role of beliefs in moral judgmentHang eYe0Shu eChen1Daqiang eHuang2Haoli eZheng3Yongmin eJia4Jun eLuo5Jun eLuo6College of Economics, Interdisciplinary Center for Social Sciences at Zhejiang UniversityCollege of Economics, Interdisciplinary Center for Social Sciences at Zhejiang UniversityCollege of Economics, Interdisciplinary Center for Social Sciences at Zhejiang UniversityCollege of Economics, Interdisciplinary Center for Social Sciences at Zhejiang UniversityCollege of Economics, Interdisciplinary Center for Social Sciences at Zhejiang UniversitySchool of Economics and International Trade, Zhejiang University of Finance and EconomicsNeuro & Behavior EconLab, Zhejiang University of Finance and EconomicsJudgments about whether an action is morally right or wrong typically depend on our capacity to infer the actor’s beliefs and the outcomes of the action. Prior neuroimaging studies have found that mental state (e.g., beliefs, intentions) attribution for moral judgment involves a complex neural network that includes the temporoparietal junction (TPJ). However, neuroimaging studies cannot demonstrate a direct causal relationship between the activity of this brain region and mental state attribution for moral judgment. In the current study, we used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to transiently alter neural activity in the TPJ. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three stimulation treatments (right anodal/left cathodal tDCS, left anodal/right cathodal tDCS, or sham stimulation). Each participant was required to complete two similar tasks of moral judgment before receiving tDCS and after receiving tDCS. We studied whether tDCS to the TPJ altered mental state attribution for moral judgment. The results indicated that restraining the activity of the right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) or the left the temporoparietal junction (LTPJ) decreased the role of beliefs in moral judgments and led to an increase in the dependence of the participants’ moral judgments on the action’s consequences. We also found that the participants exhibited reduced reaction times both in the cases of intentional harms and attempted harms after receiving right cathodal/left anodal tDCS to the TPJ. These findings inform and extend the current neural models of moral judgment and moral development in typically developing people and in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00659/fullTheory of Mindtranscranial direct current stimulationmoral judgmenttemporoparietal junctionbeliefs and outcomes |
| spellingShingle | Hang eYe Shu eChen Daqiang eHuang Haoli eZheng Yongmin eJia Jun eLuo Jun eLuo Modulation of neural activity in the temporoparietal junction with transcranial direct current stimulation changes the role of beliefs in moral judgment Frontiers in Human Neuroscience Theory of Mind transcranial direct current stimulation moral judgment temporoparietal junction beliefs and outcomes |
| title | Modulation of neural activity in the temporoparietal junction with transcranial direct current stimulation changes the role of beliefs in moral judgment |
| title_full | Modulation of neural activity in the temporoparietal junction with transcranial direct current stimulation changes the role of beliefs in moral judgment |
| title_fullStr | Modulation of neural activity in the temporoparietal junction with transcranial direct current stimulation changes the role of beliefs in moral judgment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Modulation of neural activity in the temporoparietal junction with transcranial direct current stimulation changes the role of beliefs in moral judgment |
| title_short | Modulation of neural activity in the temporoparietal junction with transcranial direct current stimulation changes the role of beliefs in moral judgment |
| title_sort | modulation of neural activity in the temporoparietal junction with transcranial direct current stimulation changes the role of beliefs in moral judgment |
| topic | Theory of Mind transcranial direct current stimulation moral judgment temporoparietal junction beliefs and outcomes |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00659/full |
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