Siegel, JZ;
Crockett, MJ;
(2013)
How serotonin shapes moral judgment and behavior.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
, 1299
42 - 51.
10.1111/nyas.12229.
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Abstract
Neuroscientists are now discovering how hormones and brain chemicals shape social behavior, opening potential avenues for pharmacological manipulation of ethical values. Here, we review recent studies showing how altering brain chemistry can alter moral judgment and behavior, focusing in particular on the neuromodulator serotonin and its role in shaping values related to harm and fairness. We synthesize previous findings and consider the potential mechanisms through which serotonin could increase the aversion to harming others. We present a process model whereby serotonin influences social behavior by shifting social preferences in the positive direction, enhancing the value people place on others’ outcomes. This model may explain previous findings relating serotonin function to prosocial behavior, and makes new predictions regarding how serotonin may influence the neural computation of value in social contexts.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | How serotonin shapes moral judgment and behavior |
| ISBN-13: | 978-1-57331-872-3 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/nyas.12229 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12229 |
| Additional information: | ©� 2013 The Authors. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of The New York Academy of Sciences. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | serotonin, moral judgment, harm aversion, fairness |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1422596 |
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