Bad to the Bone or Good to The TPJ

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http://web.mit.edu/press/2010/moral-control.html

 

Tater's usually pretty careful about what the press says about science, on

account of mostly reporters get it wrong. But this is from MIT Press, so they

probably did a good job (excerpt):

 

Previous studies have shown that a brain region known as the right

temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) is highly active when we think about other

people's intentions, thoughts and beliefs. In the new study, the researchers

disrupted activity in the right TPJ by inducing a current in the brain using a

magnetic field applied to the scalp. They found that the subjects' ability to

make moral judgments that require an understanding of other people's intentions

— for example, a failed murder attempt — was impaired.

 

The researchers, led by Rebecca Saxe, MIT assistant professor of brain and

cognitive sciences, report their findings in the Proceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences the week of March 29.

 

The study offers " striking evidence " that the right TPJ, located at the brain's

surface above and behind the right ear, is critical for making moral judgments,

says Liane Young, lead author of the paper. It's also startling, since under

normal circumstances people are very confident and consistent in these kinds of

moral judgments, says Young, a postdoctoral associate in MIT's Department of

Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

 

" You think of morality as being a really high-level behavior, " she says. " To be

able to apply (a magnetic field) to a specific brain region and change people's

moral judgments is really astonishing. "

 

Tater