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@ARTICLE{Caspers:14820,
author = {Caspers, S. and Heim, S. and Lucas, M.G. and Stephan, E.
and Fischer, L. and Amunts, K. and Zilles, K.},
title = {{M}oral concepts set decision strategies to abstract
values},
journal = {PLoS one},
volume = {6},
issn = {1932-6203},
address = {Lawrence, Kan.},
publisher = {PLoS},
reportid = {PreJuSER-14820},
pages = {e18451},
year = {2011},
note = {This work was supported by the Initiative and Networking
Fund of the Helmholtz Association within the Helmholtz
Alliance on Systems Biology (Human Brain Model; KZ), the
Helmholtz Alliance for Mental Health in an Aging Society
(HelMA; KZ, KA), and a grant of the German Federal Ministry
of Education and Research ('Bundesministerium fur Bildung
und Forschung', BMBF; No: 01GW0613; KA). The funders had no
role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision
to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.},
abstract = {Persons have different value preferences. Neuroimaging
studies where value-based decisions in actual conflict
situations were investigated suggest an important role of
prefrontal and cingulate brain regions. General preferences,
however, reflect a superordinate moral concept independent
of actual situations as proposed in psychological and
socioeconomic research. Here, the specific brain response
would be influenced by abstract value systems and moral
concepts. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying such
responses are largely unknown. Using functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) with a forced-choice paradigm on
word pairs representing abstract values, we show that the
brain handles such decisions depending on the person's
superordinate moral concept. Persons with a predominant
collectivistic (altruistic) value system applied a
"balancing and weighing" strategy, recruiting brain regions
of rostral inferior and intraparietal, and midcingulate and
frontal cortex. Conversely, subjects with mainly
individualistic (egocentric) value preferences applied a
"fight-and-flight" strategy by recruiting the left amygdala.
Finally, if subjects experience a value conflict when
rejecting an alternative congruent to their own predominant
value preference, comparable brain regions are activated as
found in actual moral dilemma situations, i.e., midcingulate
and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Our results demonstrate
that superordinate moral concepts influence the strategy and
the neural mechanisms in decision processes, independent of
actual situations, showing that decisions are based on
general neural principles. These findings provide a novel
perspective to future sociological and economic research as
well as to the analysis of social relations by focusing on
abstract value systems as triggers of specific brain
responses.},
keywords = {Adult / Behavior: ethics / Behavior: physiology / Brain:
physiology / Decision Making: ethics / Decision Making:
physiology / Female / Humans / Intelligence: physiology /
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Male / Morals / Personality:
physiology / Social Values / J (WoSType)},
cin = {INM-2 / INM-1},
ddc = {500},
cid = {I:(DE-Juel1)INM-2-20090406 / I:(DE-Juel1)INM-1-20090406},
pnm = {Funktion und Dysfunktion des Nervensystems (FUEK409) /
89571 - Connectivity and Activity (POF2-89571)},
pid = {G:(DE-Juel1)FUEK409 / G:(DE-HGF)POF2-89571},
shelfmark = {Biology},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
pubmed = {pmid:21483767},
pmc = {pmc:PMC3069966},
UT = {WOS:000289058300017},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0018451},
url = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/14820},
}