Neuroanatomical correlates of forgiving unintentional harms

Mature moral judgments rely on the consideration of the perpetrator’s mental state as well as the harmfulness of the outcomes produced. Prior work has focused primarily on the functional correlates of how intent information is neurally represented for moral judgments, but few studies have investigated whether individual differences in neuroanatomy can also explain variation in moral judgments. In the current study, we conducted voxel-based morphometry analyses combined with functional magnetic resonance imaging to address this question. We found that local grey matter volume in left anterior superior temporal sulcus, a region in the functionally defined theory of mind or mentalizing network, was associated with the degree to which participants relied on information about innocent intentions to forgive accidental harms. Our findings provide further support for the key role of mentalizing in the forgiveness of accidental harms and contribute preliminary evidence for the neuroanatomical basis of individual differences in moral judgments.

成熟的道德判断依赖于对犯罪者心理状态的考量，以及由此产生的后果的危害性。以往的研究主要聚焦于意图信息在道德判断中神经表征的功能关联，然而，关于神经解剖结构个体差异是否也能解释道德判断的变异，研究却寥寥无几。在本研究中，我们通过结合基于体素的形态计量学和功能性磁共振成像技术，对这一问题进行了探讨。我们发现，左侧前上颞叶沟回局部灰质体积，即功能定义的理论思维或心智化网络中的区域，与参与者依赖无辜意图信息原谅意外伤害的程度相关。我们的研究进一步证实了心智化在原谅意外伤害中的关键作用，并为道德判断个体差异的神经解剖基础提供了初步证据。