Cold or calculating? Reduced activity in the subgenual cingulate cortex reflects decreased emotional aversion to harming in counterintuitive utilitarian judgment

Article ID	Journal	Published Year	Pages	File Type
10457779	Cognition	2013	9 Pages	PDF

Abstract

âº We investigated the role of two personality traits in moral judgment using fMRI. âº Psychoticism and need for cognition correlated with number of utilitarian decisions. âº Only psychoticism was associated with reduced activation in the subgenual ACC. âº Our data suggest that utilitarian judgments can reflect a reduced aversion to harm. âº They offer little support to a tie between utilitarian judgment and greater deliberation.

Keywords

ACC EPQ-R vmPFC DLPFC MNI EPI FWHM SPM SCC MRI Magnetic resonance Moral decision-making Echo-planar imaging Magnetic resonance imaging functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI Social cognition full-width at half maximum anterior cingulate cortex Subgenual cingulate cortex dorsolateral prefrontal cortex Montreal Neurological Institute Statistical Parametric Mapping ventromedial prefrontal cortex cingulate cortex