Moral Values Are Associated with Individual Differences in Regional Brain Volume

摘要

Moral sentiment has been hypothesized to reflect evolvednadaptations to social living. If so, individual differences innmoral values may relate to regional variation in brain structure.nWe tested this hypothesis in a sample of 70 young, healthynadults examining whether differences on two major dimensionsnof moral values were significantly associated with regionalngray matter volume. The two clusters of moral valuesnassessed were “individualizing” (values of harm/care and fairness)nand “binding” (deference to authority, in-group loyalty,nand purity/sanctity). Individualizing was positively associatednwith left dorsomedial pFC volume and negatively associatednwith bilateral precuneus volume. For binding, a significantnpositive association was found for bilateral subcallosal gyrusnand a trend to significance for the left anterior insula volume.nThese findings demonstrate that variation in moral sentimentnreflects individual differences in brain structure and suggest anbiological basis for moral sentiment, distributed across multiplenbrain regions