The key to group fitness: The presence of another synchronizes moral attitudes and neural responses during moral decision-making

Chen, Chenyi; Martínez, Róger Marcelo; Cheng, Yawei

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116732

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 46 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Herein, this tDCS study used a within‐subject crossover design to control for inter‐individual differences to a certain degree. Second, while the rTPJ is also a significant neural marker for theory of mind (Krall et al, 2015 ), cognitive empathy (Decety & Jackson, 2004 ; Decety & Sommerville, 2003 ), and self‐referential processing (Qin et al, 2020 ), future studies incorporating relevant dispositional assessments (Chen et al, 2020 ) with a larger sample size are encouraged to corroborate the present findings.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Neuromodulation of the right temporoparietal junction alters amygdala functional connectivity to authority pressure

Cheng

Chen

Fan

et al. 2022

Human Brain Mapping

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Past historical events and experimental research have shown that complying with orders from an authority has a strong impact on harming/destructive behavior, but no one has ever looked into the potential intervention and its neural underpinning to reveal the toll of coercion. We used a paradigm of virtual obedience to authority, in which an experimenter ordered a volunteer to press a handheld button to initiate actions that carried different consequences, including harming or helping others. In this study, we scanned the brain with functional neuroimaging and applied transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to modulate the activation of the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) in healthy volunteers in a single-blinded, sham-controlled, crossover trial with anodal, cathodal, and sham stimulation. We observed that cathodal stimulation, compared to anodal and sham stimulation, significantly reduced reaction times (RTs) to initiating harming actions. The effect of tDCS on the rTPJ, orbitofrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex had opposite directions depending on coercive harming or helping actions. Cathodal tDCS-induced changes in the strength of the functional connectivity between the rTPJ and amygdala predicted the effect of cathodal tDCS on harming RTs. The findings provide evidence supporting the rTPJ having a role in coercion-induced changes in the sense of agency. Neuromodulation with tDCS might help in unveiling the power of authority and assisting in the emergence of prosocial behavior, thus shedding light on coping strategies against coercion beyond merely examining its effects.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

Neuromodulation of the right temporoparietal junction alters amygdala functional connectivity to authority pressure

Cheng

Chen

Fan

et al. 2022

Human Brain Mapping

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…To estimate the sample size needed for this placebo-controlled, crossover design study, we implemented G*power 3.1 ( Faul et al, 2009 ). Based on the effect size f (ranging from 0.2 to 0.22) for the primary fMRI outcomes found in previous fMRI literature using similar stimuli ( Chen et al, 2016 , 2020a ), and in order to have 95% power, 70–84 participants would be required with a two-sided type I error of 0.05. Accordingly, 80 participants were enrolled, with one participant being excluded due to loss of follow-up, and other two participants being equally excluded due to excessive head motion (no.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, we designed a virtual obedience paradigm inspired by prior studies on obedience to authority ( Caspar et al, 2016 , 2018 , 2020a , 2020b ; Chen et al, 2020a ), in which an experimenter ordered a subject to inflict harm to a third party ( Figure 1A ). During fMRI scanning, participants watched the first image of a morally laden mini clip, then they were ordered (ordered via textual instructions) to press a handheld button in order to initiate the successive image sequence which show the actions taken to full completion and that carry different moral consequences, including harming, neutral, or helping actions.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forty-five validated animations from previous fMRI studies were presented ( Chen et al, 2020a , b ). Each animation was comprised of three images, with no duration limit set for the 1st image, but a 200 ms duration set for the 2nd image, and a 1,000 ms duration set for the 3rd image, and portraying the following scenarios: (1) a person who is alleviating physical pain from a suffering person (helping) (e.g., removing a rock on top of a crushed leg or hand), (2) a person who is taking an action to physically harm another person (harming), and (3) a baseline stimuli depicting a person carrying out an action that is irrelevant to another person (neutral).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The anti-anxiety drug lorazepam changes implicit behaviors but not explicit evaluations of sense of agency under authoritative pressure: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous research on coercion has neglected the fact that agents under authoritative pressure may also suffer from coercive power, which can trigger anxiety-like emotional negativity on its victims. Furthermore, high levels of neuroticism and/or anxiety have been found to be associated with the compliance of various forms of social pressure. In this study, we investigate the effects of the anxiolytic GABAA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) modulator, lorazepam, on behavioral and neural responses to coercive power. Here, we applied a virtual obedience to authority paradigm alongside lorazepam administration (versus placebo), and during functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning. Our results show that lorazepam administration exerted differential effects on the reaction times (RTs) when initiating harming versus helping behaviors, with longer harming RTs compared to helping RTs, despite comparable subjective ratings regarding perceived coercion. Coercive harming significantly increased activity in the amygdala, hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). Lorazepam administration decreased amygdala and hippocampus activity, but increased dlPFC and right temporoparietal junction activations. The lower activity in the hippocampus predicted higher ratings for perceived coercion. Furthermore, lorazepam significantly decreased the functional connectivity of the hippocampus with the dlPFC during coercive harming. In conclusion, we provide evidence –by incorporating multimodal indices, including neuroimaging, neuropharmacological interventions, and behavioral assessments– to posit that the GABAA agonist, lorazepam, might aid as a possible intervention in service of coping strategies against coercion.

show abstract

“…Visual stimuli 45 validated animations from previous fMRI studies were presented to participants in the coercivehelping and coercive-harming tasks (Chen et al, 2020a;Chen et al, 2020b). Each animation was comprised of three images, with no duration limit set for the 1st image, but a 200 milliseconds duration set for the 2nd image, and a 1000 milliseconds duration set for the 3rd image, and portraying the following scenarios: [1] a person who is alleviating physical pain from a suffering person (helping), [2] a person who is taking an action to physically harm another person (harming), and [3] a baseline stimuli depicting a person carrying out an action that is irrelevant to another person (neutral).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

GABA Boosts Relief from Coercive Power: an fMRI study

Cheng¹,

Martínez²,

Chen³

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Individuals under coercive control frequently suffer from anxiety, with recent research asserting this situation as a catalyst for certain types of violence directed towards those suffering under the most serious and insidious forms of coercive power –such as domestic violence victims. Studies researching this matter have skewed towards dissembling manipulation, or participants' obedience levels, neglecting the fact that agents under coercive power are also victims of coercive violence. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we investigate the effects of the anxiolytic GABAA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid) modulator, lorazepam, on behavioral and neural levels in response to coercive power. We used a virtual obedience to authority paradigm inspired in Milgram's renowned experiments of the same nature. An experimenter ordered a volunteer to press a handheld button to initiate actions that carry different moral consequences, including harming or helping others. Our results showed that lorazepam administration, relative to placebo, slowed down reaction times when initiating harming behaviors, but accelerated reaction times for helping actions, despite comparable subjective ratings regarding perceived coercion. Coercive harming significantly increased activation in the amygdala, hippocampus, orbitofrontal cortex, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). After lorazepam administration, activity in the amygdala and hippocampus decreased, but activity in the dlPFC and right temporoparietal junction increased. The lower activity in the hippocampus predicted higher subjective ratings for perceived coercion. Furthermore, lorazepam administration significantly decreased the functional connectivity of the hippocampus with the dlPFC during coercive harming. Our results shed light on the coping strategies against coercion beyond merely examining its effects.

show abstract

The key to group fitness: The presence of another synchronizes moral attitudes and neural responses during moral decision-making

Cited by 8 publications

References 46 publications

Neuromodulation of the right temporoparietal junction alters amygdala functional connectivity to authority pressure

Neuromodulation of the right temporoparietal junction alters amygdala functional connectivity to authority pressure

The anti-anxiety drug lorazepam changes implicit behaviors but not explicit evaluations of sense of agency under authoritative pressure: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study

GABA Boosts Relief from Coercive Power: an fMRI study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About