Transcranial direct current stimulation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex shifts preference of moral judgments.

ABSTRACT: Attitude to morality, reflecting cultural norms and values, is considered unique to human social behavior. Resulting moral behavior in a social environment is controlled by a widespread neural network including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which plays an important role in decision making. In the present study we investigate the influence of neurophysiological modulation of DLPFC reactivity by means of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on moral reasoning. For that purpose we administered anodal, cathodal, and sham stimulation of the left DLPFC while subjects judged the appropriateness of hard moral personal dilemmas. In contrast to sham and cathodal stimulation, anodal stimulation induced a shift in judgment of personal moral dilemmas towards more non-utilitarian

SUBMITTER: Kuehne M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4436128 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature