Moral decision-making, ToM, empathy and the default mode network
Biological Psychology March 20, 2012 Renate Reniers, Rhiannon Corcoran, Birgit Vӧllm et al. 168 citations
Moral decision-making involves more internally directed processing, such as self-referential thought and representation of intentions and feelings, than non-moral decision-making. Using fMRI, researchers compared brain activity when people deliberated moral versus non-moral scenarios. Greater activity appeared in parts of the Theory of Mind, empathy, and default mode networks during moral decisions. Higher scores on primary psychopathy showed a trend toward decreased brain activation in an area from dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to medial prefrontal cortex during moral versus non-moral decisions.