fMRI Investigation Research Articles

Multi-band SWIFT enables quiet and artefact-free EEG-fMRI and awake fMRI studies in rat

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies in animal models provide invaluable information regarding normal and abnormal brain function, especially when combined with complementary stimulation and recording techniques. The echo planar imaging (EPI) pulse sequence is the most common choice for fMRI investigations, but it has several shortcomings. EPI is one of the loudest sequences and very prone to movement and susceptibility-induced artefacts, making it suboptimal for awake imaging. Additionally, the fast gradient-switching of EPI induces disrupting currents in simultaneous electrophysiological recordings. Therefore, we investigated whether the unique features of Multi-Band SWeep Imaging with Fourier Transformation (MB-SWIFT) overcome these issues at a high 9.4 T magnetic field, making it a potential alternative to EPI. MB-SWIFT had 32-dB and 20-dB lower peak and average sound pressure levels, respectively, than EPI with typical fMRI parameters. Body movements had little to no effect on MB-SWIFT images or functional connectivity analyses, whereas they severely affected EPI data. The minimal gradient steps of MB-SWIFT induced significantly lower currents in simultaneous electrophysiological recordings than EPI, and there were no electrode-induced distortions in MB-SWIFT images. An independent component analysis of the awake rat functional connectivity data obtained with MB-SWIFT resulted in near whole-brain level functional parcellation, and simultaneous electrophysiological and fMRI measurements in isoflurane-anesthetized rats indicated that MB-SWIFT signal is tightly linked to neuronal resting-state activity. Therefore, we conclude that the MB-SWIFT sequence is a robust preclinical brain mapping tool that can overcome many of the drawbacks of conventional EPI fMRI at high magnetic fields.

A high-resolution fMRI investigation of BNST and centromedial amygdala activity as a function of affective stimulus predictability, anticipation, and duration.

Relative to the centromedial amygdala (CM), the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) may exhibit more sustained activation toward threat, sensitivity to unpredictability and activation during anxious anticipation. These factors are often intertwined. For example, greater BNST (vs CM) activation during a block of aversive stimuli may reflect either more sustained activation to the stimuli or greater activation due to the anticipation of upcoming stimuli. To further investigate these questions, we had participants (19 females, 9 males) complete a task adapted from a study conducted by Somerville, Whalen and Kelly in 2013, during high-resolution 7-Tesla fMRI BOLD acquisition. We found a larger response to negative vs neutral blocks (sustained threat) than to images (transient) in the BNST, but not the CM. However, in an additional analysis, we also found BNST, but not CM, activation to the onset of the anticipation period on negative vs neutral trials, possibly contributing to BNST activation across negative blocks. Predictability did not affect CM or BNST activation. These results suggest a BNST role in anxious anticipation and highlight the need for further research clarifying the temporal response characteristics of these regions.

Abstract inference of unchosen option values.

Reinforcement learning research has pursued a persistent question: Does reward feedback prompt inferences that transcend simple associations? Reversal learning data suggest an affirmative answer: When the positive stimulus (S+) becomes the negative stimulus (S-), trained humans rapidly switch to choosing the former S-. The operations supporting such inferences remain ambiguous. Do participants identify transitions between stimulus-specific contexts (i.e., A+B- and A-B+), or deduce values by learning the abstract contingency structure? Across two experiments, we probed humans' use of abstract rules to infer the values of unchosen alternatives. In Experiment 1, 37 participants attempted a task that originally demonstrated monkeys' difficulty with this form of inference. We presented modified discrimination problems in which the initially chosen stimulus (abstract inference group) or unchosen stimulus (control group) was replaced with a novel stimulus of identical status on Trial 2. In the abstract inference condition, accurate performance can be achieved by applying the consistent contingency structure (but not memory of stimulus-specific reward associations) to infer to the unchosen stimulus' value. The abstract inference group learned to make accurate choices, but only after committing substantially more errors than were observed among control participants-suggesting that unchosen value inferences are infrequently drawn in standard discrimination scenarios. In Experiment 2, 17 participants completed abstract inference problems that had been modified to be suitable for fMRI investigations. Behavioral results both corroborated the Experiment 1 trends and further revealed marked individual differences in explicit awareness of the novel stimulus values.

Effects of early adversity and social discrimination on empathy for complex mental states: An fMRI investigation

There is extensive evidence of an association between early adversity and enduring neural changes that impact socioemotional processing throughout life. Yet little is known about the effects of on-going social discrimination on socioemotional functioning. Here we examined how cumulative experiences of social discrimination impact brain response during empathic responding—a crucial issue in South Africa, given its historical apartheid context and continuing legacies. White and Black South Africans completed measures of social adversity (early adversity and social discrimination), and underwent fMRI while viewing video clips depicting victims and perpetrators of apartheid crimes. Increased neural response was detected in brain regions associated with cognitive rather than affective empathy, and greater social adversity was associated with reduced reported compassion across participants. Notably, social discrimination (due to income level, weight, gender) in White participants was associated with increased amygdala reactivity, whereas social discrimination (due to race) in Black participants mediated the negative associations of temporoparietal junction and inferior frontal gyrus activation with compassion during emotionally provocative conditions. These findings suggest that (i) social discrimination has comparable associations at the neural level as other psychosocial stressors, and that (ii) the mechanisms underlying empathic responding vary as a function of the type of social discrimination experienced.

Neural Correlates of Emotional Expression Processing of East-Asian Faces: An fMRI and Dynamic Causal Modeling Investigation

Neural Correlates of Emotional Expression Processing of East-Asian Faces: An fMRI and Dynamic Causal Modeling Investigation

Sex Moderates Amyloid and Apolipoprotein ε4 Effects on Default Mode Network Connectivity at Rest.

Women are more likely to have Alzheimer's disease (AD) and decline more rapidly once diagnosed despite greater verbal memory early in the disease compared to men—an advantage that has been termed “memory reserve.” Resting state functional MRI (fMRI) investigations demonstrate interactions between sex and AD risk factors in default mode network (DMN) connectivity, a network of brain regions showing progressive dysfunction in AD. Separate work suggests connectivity of left prefrontal cortex (PFC) may correlate with more general cognitive reserve in healthy aging. It is unknown whether left prefrontal functional connectivity with anterior and posterior default mode network (aDMN, pDMN) might differ by sex in AD. This study employed group independent component analysis (ICA) to analyze resting state fMRI data from 158 participants from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) with baseline diagnoses of normal cognition or early mild cognitive impairment (eMCI). pDMN and aDMN were defined on a subject-specific basis; prefrontal areas were selected from the Brodmann atlas (BA 6, 44, 8, and 9). Moderation regression analyses examined whether sex and amyloid PET positivity (A+/–) moderated effects of apolipoprotein ε4 (APOE ε4) on connectivity between left PFC, aDMN, and pDMN; and between aDMN and pDMN. Significant analyses were followed up with partial correlations assessing relationship of connectivity to verbal memory on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), and with preliminary analyses within NC and eMCI groups separately. Results showed no sex moderation of effects of A+ and APOE ε4 on left prefrontal/DMN connectivity in the full sample. However, sex significantly moderated impact of A+ and APOE ε4 on connectivity between aDMN and pDMN (p < 0.01). Women with an APOE allele (ε4+) and A+ showed greater aDMN/pDMN connectivity than their ε4- counterparts. No significant results were observed in men. Subgroup analyses suggested the aDMN/pDMN finding was true for those with NC, not eMCI. Partial correlations controlling for age and education showed increased aDMN/pDMN connectivity related to better verbal learning in women (p < 0.01) and not men (p = 0.18). In women at risk for AD or in early symptomatic stages who also have evidence of amyloid burden, stronger aDMN/pDMN connectivity may support verbal learning.

Impulse control under emotion processing: an fMRI investigation in borderline personality disorder compared to non-patients and cluster-C personality disorder patients

Impulsivity is a characteristic syndromal and neurobehavioral feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Research suggests an important interaction between high negative emotions and low behavioral inhibition in BPD. However, knowledge about the generalizability across stimulus categories and diagnosis specificity is limited. We investigated neural correlates of hypothesized impaired response inhibition of BPD patients to negative, positive and erotic stimuli, by comparing them to non-patients and cluster-C personality disorder patients. During fMRI scanning, 53 BPD patients, 34 non-patients and 20 cluster-C personality disorder patients completed an affective go/no-go task, including social pictures. BPD patients showed more omission errors than non-patients, independent of the stimulus category. Furthermore, BPD patients showed higher activity in the inferior parietal lobule and frontal eye fields when inhibiting negative versus neutral stimuli. Activity of the inferior parietal lobule correlated positively with the BPD checklist subscale impulsivity. When inhibiting emotional stimuli, BPD patients showed an altered brain activity in the inferior parietal lobe and frontal eye fields, whereas previously shown dysfunctional prefrontal activity was not replicated. BPD patients showed a general responsivity across stimulus categories in the frontal eye fields, whereas effects in the inferior parietal lobe were specific for negative stimuli. Results of diagnosis specificity support a dimensional rather than a categorical differentiation between BPD and cluster-C patients during inhibition of social emotional stimuli. Supported by behavioral results, BPD patients showed no deficiencies in emotionally modulated response inhibition per se but the present findings rather hint at attentional difficulties for emotional information.

Similar patterns of cortical activity in females and males during item memory

Anatomic and molecular sex differences exist in the brain, which suggests there may be functional differences. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) investigation aimed to identify the similarities and differences in brain activity between females and males during item memory. During encoding, abstract shapes were presented to the left or right of fixation. During retrieval, old and new shapes were presented at fixation and participants made “old-left”, “old-right”, or “new” judgments. Item memory was isolated by contrasting correct “old” responses to old items (with incorrect spatial memory responses; item memory hits) and “new” responses to old items (item memory misses). For both sexes, item memory produced activity in regions associated with visual long-term memory including the prefrontal cortex, parietal cortex, and visual processing regions. A sex by accuracy interaction analysis within each sub-region of activity produced largely null results, supporting common patterns of brain activity. However, there was sex-specific (male > female) activity within default network regions, which suggests males may have been less engaged in the task, and there was evidence for greater activity for females than males in language processing cortex. The present findings indicate that females and males employ similar patterns of brain activity during item memory.

Proactive and Reactive Language Control in the Bilingual Brain.

The current experiment investigated bilingual language control within the dual mechanisms framework. In an fMRI investigation of morphosyntactic rule production, the presence or absence of target language cues was manipulated to investigate the neural mechanisms associated with proactive and reactive global language control mechanisms. Patterns of activation across nine regions of interest (ROIs) were investigated in seventeen early Spanish–English bilingual speakers. A cue by phase interaction in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and pre-supplementary motor area (Pre-SMA) was observed, suggesting that these regions were more active during cue phases, and less active during execution phases, when target language cues were presented. Individual differences analyses showed that variability in proactive control (informative > non-informative cued trial activation during preparation) in the basal ganglia was correlated with proactive control in the left DLPFC, left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and right precentral ROIs. In contrast, reactive control (non-informative > informative cued activation during execution) in the anterior cingulate was correlated with reactive control in the Pre-SMA and left orbital frontal ROIs. The results suggest that, consistent with the dual mechanisms framework, bilinguals differ in the degree to which they use cues to proactively prepare to use a target language.

Inhibit, switch, and update: A within-subject fMRI investigation of executive control

An influential model of executive control suggests that it comprises three dissociable processes: working memory, inhibition, and task switching. Multiple studies have investigated how these processes are individually implemented in the human brain. However, few have directly investigated this question using a common task architecture and a within-subject design. Here, healthy adult humans (N = 22) performed a novel executive control task during fMRI scanning. The paradigm independently manipulated working memory updating, inhibition, and task switching demands, while keeping all other task features constant. Direct contrasts of each executive task with a closely matched control condition revealed a differentiated pattern of recruitment across control tasks: working memory was associated with activity in dorsolateral prefrontal, lateral parietal and insular cortices bilaterally; Inhibition engaged right lateral and superior medial prefrontal cortex, inferior parietal lobules bilaterally, right middle and inferior temporal cortex, and ventral visual processing regions; Task switching was associated with bilateral activity in medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, as well as left inferior parietal lobule, lateral temporal cortex and right thalamus. A conjunction of all executive versus control task activations revealed common areas of activation overlapping regions of canonical frontoparietal control and dorsal attention networks. Further, multivariate analyses suggest that working memory may be a putative common factor supporting executive functioning. Taken together, these results are consistent with a hybrid model of executive control in the human brain.

Default mode and visual network activity in an attention task: Direct measurement with intracranial EEG

Dynamic attention states are necessary to navigate the ever changing task demands of daily life. Previous investigations commonly utilize a block paradigm to study sustained and transient changes in attention networks. fMRI investigations have shown that sustained attention in visual block design attention tasks corresponds to decreased signal in the default mode and visual processing networks. While task negative networks are anticipated to decrease during active task engagement, it is unexpected that visual networks would also be suppressed during a visual task where event-related fMRI studies have found transient increases to visual stimuli. To resolve these competing results, the current investigations utilized intracranial EEG to directly interrogate visual and default mode network dynamics during a visual continuous performance task. We used the electrophysiological data to model expected fMRI signals and to maximize interpretation of current results with previous investigations. Results show broadband gamma power decreases in the default mode network, corresponding to previous EEG and fMRI findings. Meanwhile, visual processing regions including the primary visual cortex and fusiform gyrus demonstrate both sustained decreases during task engagement and stimuli-driven transient increases in gamma power. Modeled fMRI based on gamma power reproduces signal decreases reported in the fMRI literature, and emphasizes the insensitivity of fMRI to transient, regularly spaced signal changes embedded within sustained network dynamics. The signal processing functions of the dynamic visual and default mode network changes explored in this study are unknown but may be elucidated through further investigation.

Detailed mapping of human habenula resting-state functional connectivity

The habenula (Hb) inhibits dopaminergic reward signaling in response to negative outcomes and has been linked to numerous functional domains relevant to mental health, including reward prediction, motivation, and aversion processing. Despite its important neuroscientific and clinical implications, however, the human Hb remains poorly understood due to its small size and the associated technical hurdles to in vivo functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) investigation. Using high-resolution 3 T fMRI data from 68 healthy young adults acquired through the Human Connectome Project, we developed a rigorous approach for mapping the whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity of the human Hb. Our study combined an optimized strategy for defining subject-level connectivity seeds to maximize Hb blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal sensitivity with high-quality surface-based alignment for robust functional localization and cortical sensitivity. We identified significant positive Hb connectivity with: (i) conserved brainstem targets, including the dopaminergic ventral tegmental area, serotonergic raphe nuclei, and periaqueductal gray; (ii) subcortical structures related to reward and motor function, including the nucleus accumbens, dorsal striatum, pallidum, thalamus, and cerebellum; and (iii) cortical areas associated with the Salience Network and early sensory processing, including the dorsal anterior cingulate, anterior insula, and primary visual and auditory cortices. Hb connectivity was strongly biased towards task-positive brain regions, with weak or negative connectivity observed throughout the task-negative Default Mode Network. Our study provides a detailed characterization of Hb resting-state functional connectivity in healthy young adults, demonstrating both the feasibility and clinical potential of studying the human Hb using high-resolution 3 T fMRI.

A functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation of the autonomous sensory meridian response.

BackgroundAutonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a sensory-emotional experience in which specific stimuli (ASMR “triggers”) elicit tingling sensations on the scalp, neck, and shoulders; these sensations are accompanied by a positive affective state. In the current research, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used in order to delineate the neural substrates of these responses.MethodsA total of 17 individuals with ASMR and 17 age- and sex-matched control participants underwent fMRI scanning while watching six 4-minute videos. Three of the videos were designed to elicit ASMR tingling and three videos were not.ResultsThe results demonstrated that ASMR videos have a distinct effect on the neural activity of individuals with ASMR. The contrast of ASMR participants’ responses to ASMR videos showed greater activity in the cingulate gyrus as well as in cortical regions related to audition, movement, and vision. This activity was not observed in control participants. The contrast of ASMR and control participants’ responses to ASMR-eliciting videos detected greater activity in right cingulate gyrus, right paracentral lobule, and bilateral thalamus in ASMR participants; control participants showed greater activity in the lingula and culmen of the cerebellum.ConclusionsTogether, these results highlight the fact that ASMR videos elicit activity in brain areas related to sensation, emotion, and attention in individuals with ASMR, but not in matched control participants.

Different patterns of cortical activity in females and males during spatial long-term memory

It is generally assumed that identical neural regions mediate the same cognitive functions in females and males. However, anatomic and molecular sex differences exist in the brain, including in regions associated with long-term memory, which suggests there may be functional differences. The present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) investigation aimed to identify the differences and similarities in brain activity between females and males during spatial long-term memory. During encoding, abstract shapes were presented to the left or right of fixation. During retrieval, shapes were presented at fixation and participants made “old-left” or “old-right” judgments. For both females and males, spatial memory hits versus misses produced activity in regions commonly associated with visual long-term memory; however, the activations were almost completely distinct between the sexes. An interaction analysis revealed sex-specific activity for males in visual processing regions, the left putamen, the right caudate nucleus, and bilateral cerebellum, and sex-specific activity for females in the parietal cortex. A targeted anatomic region-of-interest (ROI) analysis identified sex-specific activity for males and females in the left hippocampus and language processing cortex, respectively. A multi-voxel pattern correlation analysis within functional ROIs between all pairs of participants showed greater within-sex than between-sex correlations, indicating the differential activations were due to sex differences rather than other individual differences between groups. These results indicate that spatial long-term memory is mediated by largely different brain regions in females and males. These findings have major implications for the field of cognitive neuroscience, where it is common practice to collapse across sex.

Perceptual Function and Category-Selective Neural Organization in Children with Resections of Visual Cortex.

The consequences of cortical resection, a treatment for humans with pharmaco-resistant epilepsy, provide a unique opportunity to advance our understanding of the nature and extent of cortical (re)organization. Despite the importance of visual processing in daily life, the neural and perceptual sequellae of occipitotemporal resections remain largely unexplored. Using psychophysical and fMRI investigations, we compared the neural and visuoperceptual profiles of 10 children or adolescents following unilateral cortical resections and their age- and gender-matched controls. Dramatically, with the exception of two individuals, both of whom had relatively greater cortical alterations, all patients showed normal perceptual performance on tasks of intermediate- and high-level vision, including face and object recognition. Consistently, again with the exception of the same two individuals, both univariate and multivariate fMRI analyses revealed normal selectivity and representational structure of category-selective regions. Furthermore, the spatial organization of category-selective regions obeyed the typical medial-to-lateral topographic organization albeit unilaterally in the structurally preserved hemisphere rather than bilaterally. These findings offer novel insights into the malleability of cortex in the pediatric population and suggest that, although experience may be necessary for the emergence of neural category-selectivity, this emergence is not necessarily contingent on the integrity of particular cortical structures.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT One approach to reduce seizure activity in patients with pharmaco-resistant epilepsy involves the resection of the epileptogenic focus. The impact of these resections on the perceptual behaviors and organization of visual cortex remain largely unexplored. Here, we characterized the visuoperceptual and neural profiles of ventral visual cortex in a relatively large sample of post-resection pediatric patients. Two major findings emerged. First, most patients exhibited preserved visuoperceptual performance across a wide-range of visual behaviors. Second, normal topography, magnitude, and representational structure of category-selective organization were uncovered in the spared hemisphere. These comprehensive imaging and behavioral investigations uncovered novel evidence concerning the neural representations and visual functions in children who have undergone cortical resection, and have implications for cortical plasticity more generally.

Fronto-parietal and temporal brain dysfunction in depression: A fMRI investigation of auditory mismatch processing.

Mismatch responses reflect neural mechanisms of early cognitive processing in the auditory domain. Disturbances of these mechanisms on multiple levels of neural processing may contribute to clinical symptoms in major depression (MD). A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was conducted to identify neurobiological foundations of altered mismatch processing in MD. Twenty-five patients with major depression and 25 matched healthy individuals completed an auditory mismatch paradigm optimized for fMRI. Brain activity during mismatch processing was compared between groups. Moreover, seed-based connectivity analyses investigated depression-specific brain networks. In patients, mismatch processing was associated with reduced activation in the right auditory cortex as well as in a fronto-parietal attention network. Moreover, functional coupling between the right auditory cortex and frontal areas was reduced in patients. Seed-to voxel analysis on the whole-brain level revealed reduced connectivity between the auditory cortex and the thalamus as well as posterior cingulate. The present study indicates deficits in sensory processing on the level of the auditory cortex in depression. Hyposensitivity in a fronto-parietal network presumably reflects altered attention mechanisms in depression. The observed impairments may contribute to psychopathology by reducing the ability of the affected individuals to orient attention toward important environmental cues.

Reward anticipation and punishment anticipation are instantiated in the brain via opponent mechanisms.

fMRI investigations have examined the extent to which reward and punishment motivation are associated with common or opponent neural systems, but such investigations have been limited by confounding variables and methodological constraints. The present study aimed to address limitations of earlier approaches and more comprehensively evaluate the extent to which neural activation associated with reward and punishment motivation reflects opponent or shared systems. Participants completed a modified monetary incentive delay task, which involved the presentation of a cue followed by a target to which participants were required to make a speeded button press. Using a factorial design, cues indicated whether monetary reward and/or loss (i.e., cues signaled probability of reward, punishment, both, or neither) could be expected depending upon response speed. Neural analyses evaluated evidence of (a) directionally opposing effects by testing for regions of differential activation for reward and punishment anticipation, (b) mutual inhibition by testing for interactive effects of reward and punishment anticipation within a factorial design, and (c) opposing effects on shared outputs via a psychophysiological interaction analysis. Evidence supporting all three criteria for opponent systems was obtained. Collectively, present findings support conceptualizing reward and punishment motivation as opponent forces influencing brain and behavior and indicate that shared activation does not suggest the operation of a common neural mechanism instantiating reward and punishment motivation.

High-level Integrative Networks: A Resting-state fMRI Investigation of Reading and Spelling.

Orthographic processing skills (reading and spelling) are evolutionarily recent and mastered late in development, providing an opportunity to investigate how the properties of the neural networks supporting skills of this type compare to those supporting evolutionarily older, well-established "reference" networks. Although there has been extensive research using task-based fMRI to study the neural substrates of reading, there has been very little using resting-state fMRI to examine the properties of orthographic networks. In this investigation using resting-state fMRI, we compare the within-network and across-network coherence properties of reading and spelling networks directly to these properties of reference networks, and we also compare the network properties of the key node of the orthographic networks-the visual word form area-to those of the other nodes of the orthographic and reference networks. Consistent with previous results, we find that orthographic processing networks do not exhibit certain basic network coherence properties displayed by other networks. However, we identify novel distinctive properties of the orthographic processing networks and establish that the visual word form area has unusually high levels of connectivity with a broad range of brain areas. These characteristics form the basis of our proposal that orthographic networks represent a class of "high-level integrative networks" with distinctive properties that allow them to recruit and integrate multiple, lower level processes.

The Role of Intranasal Oxytocin in Anxiety and Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Several studies have demonstrated the neuromodulating function of oxytocin (OT) in response to anxiogenic stimuli as well as its potential role in the pathogenesis of depression. Consequently, intranasal OT (IN-OT) has been proposed as a potential treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders. The present systematic review aimed to summarize the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of IN-OT on anxiety and depressive symptoms. Overall, 15 studies were included, involving patients with social anxiety disorders (7 studies), arachnophobia (1), major depression (3) or post-natal depression (4), and mainly evaluating single-dose administrations of IN-OT. Results showed no significant effects on core symptomatology. Five crossover studies included functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation: one trial showed reduced amygdala hyper-reactivity after IN-OT in subjects with anxiety, while another one showed enhanced connectivity between amygdala and bilateral insula and middle cingulate gyrus after IN-OT in patients but not in healthy controls. More studies are needed to confirm these results. In conclusion, up to date, evidence regarding the potential utility of IN-OT in treating anxiety and depression is still inconclusive. Further RCTs with larger samples and long-term administration of IN-OT are needed to better elucidate its potential efficacy alone or in association with standard care.

When morality opposes the law: An fMRI investigation into punishment judgments for crimes with good intentions

In judicial practice, morally right but legally wrong instances usually pose significant challenges for legal decision makers. To examine the cognitive and neural foundations of legal judgments in criminal cases involving apparent moral conflicts, we scanned 30 female participants during punishment judgments for crimes committed with good intentions. The behavioral results confirmed that moral acceptability was significantly correlated with the punishment ratings only in the good-intentioned crimes. The fMRI data mainly revealed that the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) plays special roles in processing criminal offenders’ state of mind and that the right dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) plays roles in resolving moral conflicts involved in legal judgments. Specifically, we found that compared to the bad-intentioned scenarios, the good-intentioned scenarios evoked greater activities during the postreading stage in the brain area of the rTPJ and that a signal increase in the rTPJ was associated with more lenient penalty judgments in the good-intentioned scenarios. Furthermore, reading crime scenarios with good intentions elicited stronger activation in the rdlPFC, which showed enhanced functional connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Overall, our study sheds some light on the neurocognitive underpinnings of legal judgments in special criminal cases and enhances our understanding of the relationship between legal and moral judgments.