Damage to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Judgment of Harmful Intent
Moral judgments, whether delivered in ordinary experience or in the courtroom, depend on our ability to infer intentions. We forgive unintentional or accidental harms and condemn failed attempts to harm. Prior work demonstrates that patients with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPC) d...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Elsevier
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96062 |
| _version_ | 1811069593120145408 |
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| author | Young, Liane Bechara, Antoine Tranel, Daniel Damasio, Hanna Hauser, Marc Damasio, Antonio |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Young, Liane Bechara, Antoine Tranel, Daniel Damasio, Hanna Hauser, Marc Damasio, Antonio |
| author_sort | Young, Liane |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Moral judgments, whether delivered in ordinary experience or in the courtroom, depend on our ability to infer intentions. We forgive unintentional or accidental harms and condemn failed attempts to harm. Prior work demonstrates that patients with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPC) deliver abnormal judgments in response to moral dilemmas and that these patients are especially impaired in triggering emotional responses to inferred or abstract events (e.g., intentions), as opposed to real or actual outcomes. We therefore predicted that VMPC patients would deliver abnormal moral judgments of harmful intentions in the absence of harmful outcomes, as in failed attempts to harm. This prediction was confirmed in the current study: VMPC patients judged attempted harms, including attempted murder, as more morally permissible relative to controls. These results highlight the critical role of the VMPC in processing harmful intent for moral judgment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:12:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/96062 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:12:49Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/960622022-09-23T11:38:33Z Damage to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Judgment of Harmful Intent Young, Liane Bechara, Antoine Tranel, Daniel Damasio, Hanna Hauser, Marc Damasio, Antonio Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Young, Liane Moral judgments, whether delivered in ordinary experience or in the courtroom, depend on our ability to infer intentions. We forgive unintentional or accidental harms and condemn failed attempts to harm. Prior work demonstrates that patients with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPC) deliver abnormal judgments in response to moral dilemmas and that these patients are especially impaired in triggering emotional responses to inferred or abstract events (e.g., intentions), as opposed to real or actual outcomes. We therefore predicted that VMPC patients would deliver abnormal moral judgments of harmful intentions in the absence of harmful outcomes, as in failed attempts to harm. This prediction was confirmed in the current study: VMPC patients judged attempted harms, including attempted murder, as more morally permissible relative to controls. These results highlight the critical role of the VMPC in processing harmful intent for moral judgment. National Science Foundation (U.S.) 2015-03-17T20:35:27Z 2015-03-17T20:35:27Z 2010-03 2010-02 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 08966273 1097-4199 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96062 Young, Liane, Antoine Bechara, Daniel Tranel, Hanna Damasio, Marc Hauser, and Antonio Damasio. “Damage to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Judgment of Harmful Intent.” Neuron 65, no. 6 (March 2010): 845–851. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2010.03.003 Neuron Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf Elsevier Elsevier |
| spellingShingle | Young, Liane Bechara, Antoine Tranel, Daniel Damasio, Hanna Hauser, Marc Damasio, Antonio Damage to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Judgment of Harmful Intent |
| title | Damage to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Judgment of Harmful Intent |
| title_full | Damage to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Judgment of Harmful Intent |
| title_fullStr | Damage to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Judgment of Harmful Intent |
| title_full_unstemmed | Damage to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Judgment of Harmful Intent |
| title_short | Damage to Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex Impairs Judgment of Harmful Intent |
| title_sort | damage to ventromedial prefrontal cortex impairs judgment of harmful intent |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/96062 |
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