Key Laboratory of Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences, School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 201620, People's Republic of China.
Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, CNRS, Neuroeconomics Lab 69675 Bron, France.
J Neurosci. 2021 Feb 24;41(8):1699-1715. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1237-20.2020. Epub 2020 Nov 6.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by a core difference in theory-of-mind (ToM) ability, which extends to alterations in moral judgment and decision-making. Although the function of the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ), a key neural marker of ToM and morality, is known to be atypical in autistic individuals, the neurocomputational mechanisms underlying its specific changes in moral decision-making remain unclear. Here, we addressed this question by using a novel fMRI task together with computational modeling and representational similarity analysis (RSA). ASD participants and healthy control subjects (HCs) decided in public or private whether to incur a personal cost for funding a morally good cause (Good Context) or receive a personal gain for benefiting a morally bad cause (Bad Context). Compared with HC, individuals with ASD were much more likely to reject the opportunity to earn ill gotten money by supporting a bad cause than were HCs. Computational modeling revealed that this resulted from heavily weighing benefits for themselves and the bad cause, suggesting that ASD participants apply a rule of refusing to serve a bad cause because they evaluate the negative consequences of their actions more severely. Moreover, RSA revealed a reduced rTPJ representation of the information specific to moral contexts in ASD participants. Together, these findings indicate the contribution of rTPJ in representing information concerning moral rules and provide new insights for the neurobiological basis underpinning moral behaviors illustrated by a specific difference of rTPJ in ASD participants. Previous investigations have found an altered pattern of moral behaviors in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is closely associated with functional changes in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ). However, the specific neurocomputational mechanisms at play that drive the altered function of the rTPJ in moral decision-making remain unclear. Here, we show that ASD individuals are more inflexible when following a moral rule although an immoral action can benefit themselves, and experience an increased concern about their ill-gotten gains and the moral cost. Moreover, a selectively reduced rTPJ representation of information concerning moral rules was observed in ASD participants. These findings deepen our understanding of the neurobiological roots that underlie atypical moral behaviors in ASD individuals.
自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的特征是理论思维（ToM）能力的核心差异，这种差异延伸到道德判断和决策的改变。虽然右颞顶联合区（rTPJ）的功能——ToM 和道德的关键神经标志物——在自闭症个体中是不典型的，但在道德决策中其特定变化的神经计算机制仍不清楚。在这里，我们使用一种新的 fMRI 任务以及计算建模和表示相似性分析（RSA）来解决这个问题。ASD 参与者和健康对照组（HCs）在公共或私人场合决定是否为支持一个道德良好的事业承担个人成本（好的语境）或为受益于一个道德不良的事业获得个人收益（坏的语境）。与 HC 相比，ASD 个体更不愿意通过支持不良事业来获得不义之财的机会。计算建模表明，这是因为他们更看重自己和不良事业的利益，这表明 ASD 参与者应用了拒绝为不良事业服务的规则，因为他们更严厉地评估自己行为的负面后果。此外，RSA 显示 ASD 参与者的 rTPJ 对特定于道德语境的信息的表示减少。总之，这些发现表明 rTPJ 在代表与道德规则有关的信息方面的贡献，并为 ASD 参与者中 rTPJ 的特定差异所体现的道德行为的神经生物学基础提供了新的见解。以前的研究发现，自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）个体的道德行为模式发生了改变，这与右颞顶联合区（rTPJ）的功能变化密切相关。然而，在道德决策中驱动 rTPJ 功能改变的具体神经计算机制仍不清楚。在这里，我们表明，尽管不道德的行为可以使自己受益，ASD 个体在遵循道德规则时更缺乏灵活性，并且对不义之财和道德成本更加关注。此外，在 ASD 参与者中观察到 rTPJ 对与道德规则有关的信息的表示选择性减少。这些发现加深了我们对 ASD 个体异常道德行为背后的神经生物学根源的理解。
