Modulation of Neural Activity in the Temporoparietal Junction with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Changes the Role of Beliefs in Moral Judgment.
Modulation of Neural Activity in the Temporoparietal Junction with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Changes the Role of Beliefs in Moral Judgment.
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DOI：
10.3389/fnhum.2015.00659
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发表时间：
2015
影响因子：
2.9
通讯作者：
Luo J
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ye H;Chen S;Huang D;Zheng H;Jia Y;Luo J
判断一个行为在道德上是对还是错，通常取决于我们推断行为人的信念和行为结果的能力。先前的神经影像学研究发现，精神状态（如信念、意图）对道德判断的归因涉及一个复杂的神经网络，其中包括颞顶叶交界处（TPJ）。然而，神经影像学研究无法证明这一大脑区域的活动与道德判断的精神状态归因之间存在直接的因果关系。在目前的研究中，我们使用经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）来短暂改变TPJ的神经活动。参与者被随机分配到三种刺激治疗中的一种（右阳极/左阴极tDCS，左阳极/右阴极tDCS，或假刺激）。每个参与者被要求在接受tDCS之前和之后完成两个类似的道德判断任务。我们研究了tDCS对TPJ是否会改变道德判断的心理状态归因。结果表明，抑制右颞顶叶交界处（RTPJ）或左颞顶叶交界处（LTPJ）的活动降低了信念在道德判断中的作用，导致参与者的道德判断对行为后果的依赖性增加。我们还发现，在对TPJ进行右阴极/左阳极tDCS后，参与者在故意伤害和企图伤害的情况下都表现出减少的反应时间。这些发现为目前的道德判断和道德发展的神经模型提供了信息和扩展，这些模型适用于正常发育的人和患有神经发育障碍（如自闭症）的个体。
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 dependance 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.