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Brief Communications

The Good, the Bad, and the Just: Justice Sensitivity Predicts Neural Response during Moral Evaluation of Actions Performed by Others

Keith J. Yoder and Jean Decety
Journal of Neuroscience 19 March 2014, 34 (12) 4161-4166; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4648-13.2014
Keith J. Yoder
1Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637,
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Jean Decety
1Department of Psychology and Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637,
2Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60637
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    Figure 1.

    BOLD activity and time courses in rTPJ and rdlPFC. A, Clusters in rTPJ (peak: x = 60, y = −32, z = 24) and rdlPFC (peak: x = 42, y = 30, z = 26) from the whole-brain contrast thresholded at p < 0.0001 for viewing. B, D, Percentage signal change from rTPJ and rdlPFC from whole-brain (FDR: q < 0.05) is plotted for 8 s after stimulus onset, evaluated as good (blue) and bad (red) actions. Arrows indicate the first bin with significant increase. The rTPJ showed signal change earlier (4 s, T = 0.325, p = 0.002) and was significantly more responsive to bad actions, whereas the response in rdlPFC was later (6 s, T = 2.082, p = 0.022) and was greater for good actions. Bounds are SEM. C, BOLD activity in rdlPFC ROI (x = 40, y = 37, z = 26) for good actions significantly predicted praise ratings.

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    Figure 2.

    Justice sensitivity and postscan ratings predict moral sensitivity in ROIs dmPFC (top; x = 0, y = 54, z = 36) and rTPJ (bottom; x = 62, y = −54, z = 16). Other-oriented justice sensitivity was positively correlated with activity in dmPFC (A) and rTPJ (C) for Bad > Good. B, Greater activity for Bad > Good in dmPFC was related to higher praise ratings (green). D, Greater activity in rTPJ correlated with increased praise (green) and blame (red) ratings.

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    Figure 3.

    A, Regions with greater activity for judgments made during Motive blocks (p < 0.001). B, Whole-brain responses for good actions versus bad actions (FDR: q < 0.05). Striatum is circled. C, Increased functional connectivity seeded in rTPJ (x = 62, y = −54, z = 16; circled in D) is shown on a midline sagittal slice. D, Increased coupling with ACC/mPFC (x = 0, y = 46, z = 10) and a cluster in rdlPFC (peak: x = 54, y = 20, z = 16) that overlaps with that found in the whole-brain Good > Bad contrast.

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    Table 1.

    Brain regions showing significant hemodynamic increase to moral valence of actions performed by othersa

    ContrastBrain regionMNI coordinatesCluster sizeT
    xyz
    Bad > good
    R supramarginal gyrus58−322413907.54
    L insula−52641224.15
    L supramarginal gyrus−54−322212338.67
    L midcingulate−12−28421454.87
    R midcingulate14−2840103.37
    L superior parietal lobule−22−5668664.41
    R superior frontal gyrus14−474454.15
    L hippocampus−20−12−1073.46
    R hippocampus38−10−1853.38
    Good > bad
    R middle temporal58−2−24473.92
    L middle temporal−56−2−241465.38
    L inferior temporal−56−44−183805.40
    R inferior temporal56−54−16833.83
    L inferior frontal−4640−106057.02
    R inferior frontal3432−14813.82
    R dlPFC4648127994.68
    L dlPFC−40104812577.00
    L precuneus−2−60302304.30
    L insula−34−20181414.51
    R insula36−622303.69
    L caudate−18−224353.49
    R caudate18222293.70
    L superior medial frontal−4284011025.22
    R superior frontal2422581523.75
    • ↵aVoxel-wise FDR: q < 0.001. R, Right; L, left.

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The Journal of Neuroscience: 34 (12)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 34, Issue 12
19 Mar 2014
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The Good, the Bad, and the Just: Justice Sensitivity Predicts Neural Response during Moral Evaluation of Actions Performed by Others
Keith J. Yoder, Jean Decety
Journal of Neuroscience 19 March 2014, 34 (12) 4161-4166; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4648-13.2014

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The Good, the Bad, and the Just: Justice Sensitivity Predicts Neural Response during Moral Evaluation of Actions Performed by Others
Keith J. Yoder, Jean Decety
Journal of Neuroscience 19 March 2014, 34 (12) 4161-4166; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4648-13.2014
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Keywords

  • dorsal striatum
  • dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
  • justice sensitivity
  • moral cognition
  • right TPJ

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