title: Neural correlates of human virtue judgment.
abstract: Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the brain regions implicated in moral cognition. However, those studies have focused exclusively on violation of social norms and negative moral emotions, and very little effort has been expended on the investigation of positive reactions to moral excellence. It remains unclear whether the brain regions implicated in moral cognition have specific roles in processing moral violation or, more generally, process human morality per se. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, brain activations during evaluation of moral beauty and depravity were investigated. Praiseworthiness for moral beauty was associated with activation in the orbitofrontal cortex, whereas blameworthiness for moral depravity was related to the posterior superior temporal sulcus. Humans might have developed different neurocognitive systems for evaluating blameworthiness and praiseworthiness. The central process of moral beauty evaluation might be related to that of aesthetic evaluation. Our finding might contribute to a better understanding of human morality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Anagawa, Chiba, Japan. hidehiko@nirs.go.jp
authors.forename: Hidehiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Motoichiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuura
authors.forename: Michihiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koeda
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yahata
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suhara
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okubo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009014:Morals; D028722:Virtues