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The anti-social brain: Novel insights from neuroscience and molecular biology
Full text linkHuman beings are social animals. Life in society requires individuals to modulate their behavior accordingly to the norms that rule social contexts. Despite being generally sanctioned, violence remains a major issue worldwide. Advances in neuroscience and molecular biology are shedding new light on the biological mechanisms that underlie poor inhibitory control in impulsive aggression and the lack of empathy and emotional resonance in predatory violence. The increase in neuroscientific knowledge on the biological underpinnings of impulse control, moral judgment and social behavior may contribute to a wider understanding of the notion of free-will and responsibility. Here, we briefly discuss novel findings on the neurobiological correlates of aggressive and antisocial behavior and their potential ethical, forensic and political implications
Where the brain appreciates the final state of an event: The neural correlates of telicity
No full textIn the present study, we investigated whether the human brain distinguishes between telic events, that necessarily entail a specified endpoint (e.g., reaching), and atelic events with no delimitation or final state (e.g., chasing). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the patterns of neural response associated with verbs denoting telic and atelic events, and found that the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (pMTG), an area systematically engaged by verb processing tasks, showed a significantly higher activation for telic as compared to atelic verbs. These results provide the first evidence that the human brain appreciates whether events lead to an end or a change of state. This information is critical for survival, and therefore may have played a role in the evolution of the human brain and cognitive system. In addition, the findings of this study provide an explanation for the long-debated question of which verb properties modulate neural activity in the left posterior middle temporal gyrus, as they indicate that, after any other semantic properties have been controlled for, verb processing and event knowledge in the left pMTG are specifically related to the representation of telicity
Gene by gender interplay in moral choices
No full textWhile philosophers, psychologists and cognitive scientists have proposed distinct definitions of moral judgment, recent studies suggest that moral choices are modulated by neurobiological mechanisms.
The pioneering works by Greene showed that certain brain areas may be considered “specific” for moral decision and provided support for a dual-process theory, according to which two different patterns of neural activity are involved in moral choices: a fast, unconscious "emotional" system, and a slow, conscious "cognitive" system1, 2, 3. Furthermore, genetic associations between two allelic variants in serotonin transporter and oxytocin receptor genes, and moral judgment have been reported4, 5.
Because of their described association with impulsive behavior6, 7, 8, 9, we questioned whether four polymorphisms in genes involved in serotonergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission (SLC6A3–VNTR, DRD4-VNTR, DRD4 rs1800955, COMT rs4680) would modulate the cognitive and emotional processes at the basis of controversial moral choices.
After signing an informed consent, 200 (102F) University students were recruited in a moral dilemma paradigm (N=56) designed to assess three variables: moral action type (Means vs Side Effect), life expectancy (Normal vs Reduced), self-involvement (Involvement vs Non-Involvement). They also provided saliva samples for DNA collection and completed the Impulsivity-Venturesomeness-Empathy Questionnaire (I7).
Significant differences between males and females were observed in the I7 scale scores. Moreover, only in males Venturesomeness scores correlated with the number of utilitarian responses.
Males, compared to females, gave a higher number of utilitarian responses, showed longer response times for non-utilitarian answers and judged as more acceptable the endorsed moral actions.
Interestingly, only females showed a significant association between allelic variants involved in dopamine level regulation in striatum and prefrontal cortex, and moral choices.
Our results are the first ones showing that impulsivity and genetic profile influence moral judgment in a gender-related manner, thus shedding new light on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying moral choices.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Greene JD, Sommerville RB, Nystrom LE, Darley JM, Cohen JD (2001). An fMRI investigation of emotional engagement in moral judgment. Science 293(5537): 2105–2108.
2. Greene JD, Nystrom LE, Engell AD, Darley JM, Cohen JD (2004). The neural bases of cognitive conflict and control in moral judgment. Neuron 44(2): 389–400.
3. Greene JD (2009). Dual-process morality and the personal/impersonal distinction: a reply to McGuire, Langdon, Coltheart, and Mackenzie. J Exp Soc Psychol 45(3): 581-584.
4. Marsh AA, Crowe SL, Yu HH, Gorodetsky EK, Goldman D, Blair RJR (2011). Serotonin transporter genotype (5-HTTLPR) predicts utilitarian moral judgments. Plos One 6(10): e25148.
5. Walter NT, Montag C, Markett S, Felten A, Voigt G, Reuter M (2012). Ignorance is no excuse: moral judgments are influenced by a genetic variation on the oxytocin receptor gene. Brain and Cognition 78(3): 268-273.
6. Munafò MR, Yalcin B, Willis-Owen SA, Flint J (2008). Association of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene and approach-related personality traits: meta-analysis and new data. Biol Psychiatry 63(2): 197-206.
7. Joyce PR, McHugh PC, Light KJ, Rowe S, Miller AL, Kennedy MA (2009). Relationships between angry-impulsive personality traits and genetic polymorphisms of the dopamine transporter. Biol Psychiatry 66(8): 717-721.
8. Reiner I, Spangler G (2011). Dopamine D4 receptor exon III polymorphism, adverse life events and personality traits in a nonclinical German adult sample. Neuropsychobiology 63(1): 52-58.
9. Soeiro-De-Souza MG, Stanford MS, Bio DS, Machado-Vieira R, Moreno RA (2013). Association of the COMT Met158 allele with trait impulsivity in healthy young adult. Mol Med Rep 7(4): 1067-1072
Verb Semantics modulates neural activity in the left Lateral Temporal Cortex
Full text linkHere we show that the implicit processing of telicity, dynamicity and agentivity differentially modulate neural activity across different brain clusters and, in particular, within lMTG. We found that selectivity for state and telic verbs identified the most anterior and the most posterior portion of lMTG, respectively. Furthermore, dynamicity and agentivity modulated brain responses in parietal and ventral extrastriate regions. The role of each property was clearly isolated, as the stimuli were specifically controlled for and the task design covertly assessed the representation of those properties. Different event types are differentially mapped based on their semantic representation and, in particular, lMTG represents conceptual semantic properties of verbs: specifically, that kind of conceptual information which is relevant to morphosyntax, that is, telicity, stativity and agentivity, that, unlike referential semantic features, and independently of them, govern morphosyntax in a specified way
Genetic contribution to modulation of social behavior in humans: relevance for the forensic and legal settings
No full textBehavioral genetics studies the influence of genetics on behavior, including decision-making processes in economic settings and development of pro- and anti-social acting. This discipline is yielding important discoveries that are contributing to shed novel light on the subtle interplay between nature and nurture, a topic of philosophical and scientific debate since the earliest times. In this paper, we briefly review and discuss the most recent findings on the genetic contribution to the development of impulsive and antisocial aggressive behavior, highlighting their importance in forensic settings, and in particular in regards to the psychiatric evaluation of criminal responsibility
Electrodermal activity in bipolar patients during affective elicitation
No full textBipolar patients are characterized by a pathological unpredictable behavior, resulting in fluctuations between states of depression and episodes of mania or hypomania. In the current clinical practice, the psychiatric diagnosis is made through clinician-administered rating scales and questionnaires, disregarding the potential contribution provided by physiological signs. The aim of this paper is to investigate how changes in the autonomic nervous system activity can be correlated with clinical mood swings. More specifically, a group of ten bipolar patients underwent an emotional elicitation protocol to investigate the autonomic nervous system dynamics, through the electrodermal activity (EDA), among different mood states. In addition, a control group of ten healthy subjects were recruited and underwent the same protocol. Physiological signals were analyzed by applying the deconvolutive method to reconstruct EDA tonic and phasic components, from which several significant features were extracted to quantify the sympathetic activation. Experimental results performed on both the healthy subjects and the bipolar patients supported the hypothesis of a relationship between autonomic dysfunctions and pathological mood states
Psychological and genetic correlates of controversial moral choices in professional insurance brokers
No full textPsychological and genetic correlates of controversial moral choices in professional insurance brokers, From segregation to integration: The complexity of human brain functions. It represents a new way to investigate human choices in a decision with a strong impact on human life
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