Ted to Non-Moral task (Real PvG Decide > Non-Moral PvG Decide)Region

Ted to Non-Moral task (Real PvG Decide > Non-Moral PvG Decide)Region Right ACC Left amygdala Right amygdala Right fusiform A priori ROIs Right amygdala Left amygdalaaaPeak MNI coordinates 14 ?6 28 28 38 ? ? ?4 MNI coordinates 28 ?0 ? ? ?6 ?6 28 ?6 ?8 ?z value 3.12 3.00 3.00 3.49 t-statistic 3.61 3.ROI ?regions of interest with 6 mm sphere corrected at P < 0.05 FWE using a priori independent coordinates from previous study: aAkitsuki and Decety (2009).Figure 1E). This suggests that the emotional manipulation of watching an aversive video of the moral decision (when compared with viewing a blue screen and simulating the feedback of the decision) had no differential effect on participants' distress. There was, however, a significant difference between the distress levels reported in the Real PvG compared with the Non-Moral task (t ??.29; P ?0.039; paired samples t-test, 2 tailed; Figure 1E). Imaging results Real moral vs non-moral decisions In line with the traditional research (Greene et al., 2001), we first compared moral decisions in the Real PvG to decisions in the Non-Moral task, which revealed bilateral amygdala and anterior cingulate Quinagolide (hydrochloride) manufacturer cortex (ACC; the Decide event in the Real PvG contrasted with the Decide event in the Non-Moral Task [Table 1])two regions that are known to process emotionally aversive stimuli (Bechara et al., 2003), especially during emotional conflict (Etkin et al., 2011). That decisions made during the Real PvG reveal patterns of activation within emotion processing areas likely reflects the fact that moral decisions are more emotionally arousing than decisions made within a non-moral context. Real and hypothetical decisions To specifically elucidate the differences between real and hypothetical moral decisions, we compared the Decide event (Figure 1B) for the Imagine and Real PvG tasks, highlighting the brain regions distinct to each condition. Significant activation in the PCC, bilateral hippocampus and posterior parietal lobeall regions essential in imagination and prospection (Schacter et al., 2007)were greater for hypothetical moral decisions (Figure 2A). Applying a priori ROIs derived from research on the brain’s construction system (Hassabis and Maguire, 2009) revealed a remarkably shared neural system with hypothetical moral decisions (Table 2). Additional a priori ROIs drawn from the moral literature mPFC and dlPFC (Greene et al., 2001)also showed greater activation for imagined moral choices. Parameter estimates of the beta values for these ROIs confirmed that these regions were more sensitive to hypothetical moral decisions, relative to real moral decisions (Figure 2A). In contrast, activation in the bilateral ventral TPJ [BA 37], bilateral amygdala, putamen and ACC were more active for real moral decisions (Figure 2B; Table 3). As with the previous contrast, we first applied a priori ROIs and then examined the parameter estimates to ensure that the amygdala and TPJ were significantly more active during real moral decisions. These regions are well documented within the social neuroscience literature and have been closely associated with processing stimuli with emotional and social significance (X-396 site Phelps, 2006).SCAN (2012)O. Feldman Hall et al.Fig. 2 Real and Imagine Moral networks: (A) Imagine Moral Network: Comparing the Imagine PvG Decide event > Real PvG Decide event reveals significant activation in the PCC, mPFC, posterior parietal cortex, superior frontal sulcus and hippocampus. A priori ROIs (indica.Ted to Non-Moral task (Real PvG Decide > Non-Moral PvG Decide)Region Right ACC Left amygdala Right amygdala Right fusiform A priori ROIs Right amygdala Left amygdalaaaPeak MNI coordinates 14 ?6 28 28 38 ? ? ?4 MNI coordinates 28 ?0 ? ? ?6 ?6 28 ?6 ?8 ?z value 3.12 3.00 3.00 3.49 t-statistic 3.61 3.ROI ?regions of interest with 6 mm sphere corrected at P < 0.05 FWE using a priori independent coordinates from previous study: aAkitsuki and Decety (2009).Figure 1E). This suggests that the emotional manipulation of watching an aversive video of the moral decision (when compared with viewing a blue screen and simulating the feedback of the decision) had no differential effect on participants' distress. There was, however, a significant difference between the distress levels reported in the Real PvG compared with the Non-Moral task (t ??.29; P ?0.039; paired samples t-test, 2 tailed; Figure 1E). Imaging results Real moral vs non-moral decisions In line with the traditional research (Greene et al., 2001), we first compared moral decisions in the Real PvG to decisions in the Non-Moral task, which revealed bilateral amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; the Decide event in the Real PvG contrasted with the Decide event in the Non-Moral Task [Table 1])two regions that are known to process emotionally aversive stimuli (Bechara et al., 2003), especially during emotional conflict (Etkin et al., 2011). That decisions made during the Real PvG reveal patterns of activation within emotion processing areas likely reflects the fact that moral decisions are more emotionally arousing than decisions made within a non-moral context. Real and hypothetical decisions To specifically elucidate the differences between real and hypothetical moral decisions, we compared the Decide event (Figure 1B) for the Imagine and Real PvG tasks, highlighting the brain regions distinct to each condition. Significant activation in the PCC, bilateral hippocampus and posterior parietal lobeall regions essential in imagination and prospection (Schacter et al., 2007)were greater for hypothetical moral decisions (Figure 2A). Applying a priori ROIs derived from research on the brain's construction system (Hassabis and Maguire, 2009) revealed a remarkably shared neural system with hypothetical moral decisions (Table 2). Additional a priori ROIs drawn from the moral literature mPFC and dlPFC (Greene et al., 2001)also showed greater activation for imagined moral choices. Parameter estimates of the beta values for these ROIs confirmed that these regions were more sensitive to hypothetical moral decisions, relative to real moral decisions (Figure 2A). In contrast, activation in the bilateral ventral TPJ [BA 37], bilateral amygdala, putamen and ACC were more active for real moral decisions (Figure 2B; Table 3). As with the previous contrast, we first applied a priori ROIs and then examined the parameter estimates to ensure that the amygdala and TPJ were significantly more active during real moral decisions. These regions are well documented within the social neuroscience literature and have been closely associated with processing stimuli with emotional and social significance (Phelps, 2006).SCAN (2012)O. Feldman Hall et al.Fig. 2 Real and Imagine Moral networks: (A) Imagine Moral Network: Comparing the Imagine PvG Decide event > Real PvG Decide event reveals significant activation in the PCC, mPFC, posterior parietal cortex, superior frontal sulcus and hippocampus. A priori ROIs (indica.