Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
CNS Spectr. 2009 Nov;14(11):608-20. doi: 10.1017/s1092852900023853.
Morality may be innate to the human brain. This review examines the neurobiological evidence from research involving functional magnetic resonance imaging of normal subjects, developmental sociopathy, acquired sociopathy from brain lesions, and frontotemporal dementia. These studies indicate a "neuromoral" network for responding to moral dilemmas centered in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and its connections, particularly on the right. The neurobiological evidence indicates the existence of automatic "prosocial" mechanisms for identification with others that are part of the moral brain. Patients with disorders involving this moral network have attenuated emotional reactions to the possibility of harming others and may perform sociopathic acts. The existence of this neuromoral system has major clinical implications for the management of patients with dysmoral behavior from brain disorders and for forensic neuropsychiatry.
道德可能是人类大脑的先天属性。本综述从正常受试者的功能磁共振成像研究、发展性反社会行为、脑损伤引起的获得性反社会行为和额颞叶痴呆等方面探讨了神经生物学证据。这些研究表明，存在一个以腹内侧前额叶皮层及其连接为中心的“神经道德”网络，用于应对道德困境，特别是在右侧。神经生物学证据表明，存在自动的“亲社会”机制来认同他人，这是道德大脑的一部分。涉及该道德网络的障碍患者对伤害他人的可能性的情绪反应减弱，并且可能做出反社会行为。这种神经道德系统的存在对管理大脑障碍引起的行为不端患者和法医神经精神病学具有重要的临床意义。
