Jing Hengyi School of Education, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
Institute of Psychological Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China.
J Neuropsychol. 2023 Jun;17(2):335-350. doi: 10.1111/jnp.12303. Epub 2023 Jan 15.
Emotions affects moral judgements, and controlled cognitive processes regulate those emotional responses during moral decision making. However, the neurobiological basis of this interaction is unclear. We used a graph theory measurement called participation coefficient ('PC') to quantify the resting-state functional connectivity within and between four meta-analytic groupings (MAGs) associated with emotion generation and regulation, to test whether that measurement predicts individual differences in moral foundations-based values. We found that the PC of one of the MAGs (MAG2) was positively correlated with one of the five recognized moral foundations-the one based on harm avoidance. We also found that increased inter-module connectivity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and middle temporal gyrus with other nodes in the four MAGs was likewise associated with higher endorsement of the Harm foundation. These results suggest that individuals' sensitivity to harm is associated with functional integration of large-scale brain networks of emotional regulation. These findings add to our knowledge of how individual variations in our moral values could be reflected by intrinsic brain network organization and deepen our understanding of the relationship between emotion and cognition during evaluations of moral values.
情绪会影响道德判断，而受控的认知过程则在道德决策过程中调节这些情绪反应。然而，这种相互作用的神经生物学基础尚不清楚。我们使用了一种称为参与系数（“PC”）的图论测量方法，来量化与情绪产生和调节相关的四个元分析分组（MAG）内和之间的静息态功能连接，以测试该测量方法是否可以预测基于道德基础的价值观的个体差异。我们发现，其中一个 MAG（MAG2）的 PC 与五个公认的道德基础之一——基于伤害回避的道德基础呈正相关。我们还发现，腹内侧前额叶皮层、背外侧前额叶皮层和颞中回与四个 MAG 中的其他节点之间的模块间连接增加，与更高的伤害基础的认可程度也呈正相关。这些结果表明，个体对伤害的敏感性与情绪调节的大规模大脑网络的功能整合有关。这些发现增加了我们对个体道德价值观差异如何反映内在大脑网络组织的认识，并加深了我们对情感和认知在评价道德价值观时的关系的理解。
