Schedule of Events | Symposia

Neural architecture of moral reasoning in the human brain

Poster Session D - Monday, March 31, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Jinglu Chen^1,2 (jinche@utu.fi), Severi Santavirta^1,2, Vesa Putkinen^1,2,3, Paulo Boggio^4,5, Lauri Nummenmaa^1,2,6; ¹Turku PET Centre, Turku University Hospital and University of Turku, Turku, Finland, ²Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland, ³Turku Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Turku, Finland, ⁴Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Mackenzie Presbyterian University, São Paulo, Brazil, ⁵National Institute of Science and Technology on Social and Affective Neuroscience (INCT-SANI), São Paulo, Brazil, ⁶Department of Psychology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Moral foundations theory proposes a framework for universal themes of moral across populations, yet the brain basis of processing different moral dimensions remains unclear. Here we mapped brain networks involved in moral reasoning during naturalistic movie viewing. A total of 104 participants watched a Finnish film Käsky during functional MR imaging. The movie depicts an emotional and morally complex story about the Finnish civil war. Dynamic ratings of 20 emotions and moral dimensions, derived from the moral foundations theory, were collected from 43 viewers. Dimensionality reduction was employed to identify the dependencies among the moral dimensions, while general linear model and intersubject correlation (ISC) analysis identified associations between high-order moral dimensions and brain activity. Four primary moral dimensions emerged: virtue (positive morality), hierarchy (collective respect), rebellion (self-interest), and vice (moral wrongs). The ACC and insula responded specifically to vice, indicating roles in processing conflict monitoring, and emotional salience of moral violations. Rebellion and hierarchy showed mixed BOLD responses, possibly due to the complex, socially regulated nature. The frontal pole showed negative activation for hierarchy, suggesting it may play a role in regulating hierarchical reasoning. Virtue had no distinct brain signature. ISC analysis and cumulative mapping highlighted widespread brain activation during moral scenes, encompassing extensive cortical areas, thalamus and PCC. Our results support a four-dimensional neural and psychological space for moral reasoning. Moral reasoning engages extensive brain regions and reveals distinct patterns across moral dimensions, with the TPJ, temporal-occipital fusiform and angular gyrus constituting the hubs of general-purpose moral processing.

Topic Area: EMOTION & SOCIAL: Other