Abstract
One of the most intriguing frontiers of current neuroscientific research is represented by the investigation of the possible neural substrates of morality. The assumption is that in humans an innate moral sense would exist. If this is true, with no doubt it should be regulated by specific brain mechanisms selected over the course of evolution, as they would promote our species’ survival. In the last decade, an increasing number of studies have been carried out to explore the neural bases of human morality.The aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the data regarding the neurobiological origin of the moral sense, through a Medline search of English-language articles from 1980 to February 2012.The available findings would suggest that there might be a main integrative centre for the innate morality, in particular the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, with its multiple connections with the limbic lobe, thalamus and brainstem. The subjective moral sense would be the result of an integration of multiple automatic responses, mainly associated with social emotions and interpretation of others’ behaviours and intentions.Since converging observations outline how lesions of the proposed neural networks may underlie some personality changes and criminal behaviours, the implications of the studies in this field encompass many areas of the scientific domain.
Highlights
The issue of the moral nature of man, that had begun in the ancient Greece some thousands of years ago, has been essentially debated within the realm of philosophy, and subsequently of theology and jurisprudence
The aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the data regarding the neurobiological origin of the moral sense, together with some theoretical, clinical and legal implications, on the basis of a medline search of English-language articles from 1980 to February 2012 using the following keywords: moral sense, social emotions, neural networks, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, sociopathy, brain imaging, frontotemporal dementia
Different lines of research suggest that humans are equipped by an innate morality, the so-called called normative moral sense, that would result from a neural network including different brain regions, with the main centre represented by the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), especially the right one
Summary
The issue of the moral nature of man, that had begun in the ancient Greece some thousands of years ago, has been essentially debated within the realm of philosophy, and subsequently of theology and jurisprudence. Principles seem to exist in our species, those referred to by some authors as “moral or social-moral emotions”, which are linked to the interests and wellbeing of a society or group rather than of single individuals [1]. Given that they are fundamental in promoting the group cohesion, it is assumed that they were already present in our primitive ancestors, and that they constituted a crucial factor for the. The aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of the data regarding the neurobiological origin of the moral sense, together with some theoretical, clinical and legal implications, on the basis of a medline search of English-language articles from 1980 to February 2012 using the following keywords: moral sense, social emotions, neural networks, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, sociopathy, brain imaging, frontotemporal dementia
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