Conscience or Cognitive Science?

When the moral compass fails, the threat of punishment for wrongdoings is always there keep people in line. And yet, every day people transgress social mores despite knowledge of personal or even legal consequences. Now, psychologists are one step closer to understanding why we do this -- and why some of us do this more easily than others.

German researchers Manfred Spitzer, Ernst Fehr and colleagues have identified specific areas in the prefrontal cortex of the brain that process this threat of social punishment. In experiments using magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers gave subjects a pot of money and allowed them to decide how much they would distribute to another individual. In one scenario, there was no consequence to the subject's decision, while in a second, the recipient could choose to punish the first person by spending his or her portion.

Researchers found that when this threat of social punishment was introduced, high levels of activity were observed in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This activity decreased greatly, however, when the recipient of the sum was replaced with a computer, suggesting the activity was tied to social punishment.

Researchers also tested subjects for "Machiavellian" traits of selfishness and opportunism. Individuals who exhibited high levels of these traits were also found to have higher activity in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex.

Identifying this relationship may help researchers understand the neurobiological basis of antisocial personality disorder, in which individuals fail to obey social norms despite recognizing them. It also suggests that children and young adults should be treated differently in the criminal justice system, since the neural circuitry involved in processing social punishment may not mature until later in life.

ABSTRACT: The Neural Signature of Social Norm Compliance