Moral Motivation and the Basal Forebrain

Publication date: Available online 13 November 2019Source: Neuroscience & Biobehavioral ReviewsAuthor(s): Roland Zahn, Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza, Jorge MollAbstractMoral motivations drive humans to sacrifice selfish needs to serve the needs of others and internalized sociocultural norms. Over the past two decades, several brain regions have been associated with different aspects of moral cognition and behaviour. Only more recently, however, investigations have highlighted the importance of the basal forebrain for moral motivation. This includes the septo-hypothalamic region, implicated in kinship bonding across mammal species, and the closely connected subgenual frontal cortex. Understanding the neuroanatomy of moral motivation and its impairments will be fundamental for future research aiming to promote prosocial behaviour and mental health.

Source: Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews - November 14, 2019 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research