Ferrari Pier F
Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Universitá di Parma, Italy.
Behaviour. 2014 Feb 1;151(2-3):297-313. doi: 10.1163/1568539X-00003152.
One of the key questions in understanding human morality is how central are emotions in influencing our decisions and in our moral judgments. Theoretical work has proposed that empathy could play an important role in guiding our tendencies to behave altruistically or selfishly. Neurosciences suggest that one of the core elements of empathic behavior in human and nonhuman primates is the capacity to internally mimic the behavior of others, through the activation of shared motor representations. Part of the neural circuits involves parietal and premotor cortical regions (mirror system), in conjunction with other areas, such as the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex. Together with this embodied neural mechanism, there is a cognitive route in which individuals can evaluate the social situation without necessary sharing the emotional state of others. For example, several brain areas of the prefrontal cortex track the effects of one's own behavior and of the value of one's own actions in social contexts. It is here proposed that, moral cognition could emerge as the consequence of the activity of emotional processing brain networks, probably involving mirror mechanisms, and of brain regions that, through abstract-inferential processing, evaluate the social context and the value of actions in terms of abstract representations. A comparative-based approach to the neurobiology of social relations and decision-making may explain how complex mental faculties, such as moral judgments, have their foundations in brain networks endowed with functions related to emotional and abstract-evaluation processing of goods. It is proposed that in primate evolution these brain circuits have been coopted in the social domain to integrate mechanisms of self-reward, estimation of negative outcomes, with emotional engagement.
理解人类道德的关键问题之一是，情感在影响我们的决策和道德判断中究竟有多核心。理论研究提出，同理心可能在引导我们利他或自私行为倾向方面发挥重要作用。神经科学表明，人类和非人类灵长类动物移情行为的核心要素之一是通过激活共享运动表征在内心模仿他人行为的能力。部分神经回路涉及顶叶和运动前皮层区域（镜像系统），以及其他区域，如脑岛和前扣带回皮层。除了这种具身神经机制外，还存在一种认知途径，个体可以在不必共享他人情绪状态的情况下评估社会情境。例如，前额叶皮层的几个脑区会追踪自身行为的影响以及自身行为在社会情境中的价值。本文提出，道德认知可能是情感加工脑网络（可能涉及镜像机制）以及通过抽象推理加工根据抽象表征评估社会情境和行为价值的脑区活动的结果。一种基于比较的社会关系和决策神经生物学方法，可能解释诸如道德判断等复杂心理能力如何在具有与物品情感和抽象评估加工相关功能的脑网络中奠定基础。有人提出，在灵长类动物进化过程中，这些脑回路已被社会领域采用，以整合自我奖励机制、负面结果估计以及情感参与。
