Neural evidence for moral intuition and the temporal dynamics of interactions between emotional processes and moral cognition

Behavioral and neurological studies have revealed that emotions influence moral cognition. Although moral stimuli are emotionally charged, the time course of interactions between emotions and moral judgments remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated the temporal dynamics of the interact...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social neuroscience 2016-07, Vol.11 (4), p.380-394
Main Authors: Gui, Dan-Yang, Gan, Tian, Liu, Chao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis of Variance
Arousal
Brain Mapping
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Cognition & reasoning
Cognition - physiology
Electroencephalography
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
ERP/EEG
Evoked Potentials - physiology
Female
Humans
Judgment - physiology
Male
Moral judgment
Morality
Morals
Neurology
Photic Stimulation
Right temporoparietal junction
Time Factors
Young Adult
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Summary:Behavioral and neurological studies have revealed that emotions influence moral cognition. Although moral stimuli are emotionally charged, the time course of interactions between emotions and moral judgments remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated the temporal dynamics of the interaction between emotional processes and moral cognition. The results revealed that when making moral judgments, the time course of the event-related potential (ERP) waveform was significantly different between high emotional arousal and low emotional arousal contexts. Different stages of processing were distinguished, showing distinctive interactions between emotional processes and moral reasoning. The precise time course of moral intuition and moral reasoning sheds new light on theoretical models of moral psychology. Specifically, the N1 component (interpreted as representing moral intuition) did not appear to be influenced by emotional arousal. However, the N2 component and late positive potential were strongly affected by emotional arousal; the slow wave was influenced by both emotional arousal and morality, suggesting distinct moral processing at different emotional arousal levels.
ISSN:1747-0919
1747-0927
DOI:10.1080/17470919.2015.1081401