Dissociable Effects of Serotonin and Dopamine on the Valuation of Harm in Moral Decision Making.

ABSTRACT: An aversion to harming others is a core component of human morality and is disturbed in antisocial behavior. Deficient harm aversion may underlie instrumental and reactive aggression, which both feature in psychopathy. Past work has highlighted monoaminergic influences on aggression, but a mechanistic account of how monoamines regulate antisocial motives remains elusive. We previously observed that most people show a greater aversion to inflicting pain on others than themselves. Here, we investigated whether this hyperaltruistic disposition is susceptible to monoaminergic control. We observed dissociable effects of the serotonin reuptake inhibitor citalopram and the dopamine precursor levodopa on decisions to inflict pain on oneself and others for financial gain. Computational models of ch

SUBMITTER: Crockett MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4518463 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature