Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal.
Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal; Lusófona University Lisbon, Portugal; Lusófona University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Neurosci Lett. 2022 Sep 14;787:136824. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2022.136824. Epub 2022 Jul 30.
The current study aims to provide the first insights into the neural correlates of utilitarian and deontological responses to moral dilemmas across the lifespan. To this purpose, younger (n = 30), middle-aged (n = 29), and older adults (n = 29) completed moral dilemmas during an EEG recording. Behaviorally, groups did not differ in the number of utilitarian responses and reaction times. However, at the neural level, older adults had higher Error Positivity (Pe) amplitudes than younger adults after utilitarian responses. As this effect was specific to utilitarian responses, it suggests that utilitarian decisions may induce increased conflict in the older group. These findings highlight that older adults may be more aware of the harmful outcomes of utilitarian decisions during moral decision-making.
本研究旨在首次探讨人们在整个生命周期中对道德困境做出功利主义和义务论反应的神经相关性。为此，本研究招募了年轻组（n=30）、中年组（n=29）和老年组（n=29），并在 EEG 记录期间完成了道德困境任务。行为上，三组在功利主义反应的数量和反应时间上没有差异。然而，在神经水平上，与年轻组相比，老年组在功利主义反应后出现了更高的错误正波（Pe）振幅。由于这种效应是功利主义反应所特有的，因此它表明功利主义决策可能会在老年组中引起更大的冲突。这些发现强调，在道德决策过程中，老年人可能更能意识到功利主义决策的有害后果。
