How Brain Stimulation Techniques Can Affect Moral and Social Behaviour

Nuzzo, Chiara Di; Ferrucci, Roberta; Gianoli, E.; Reitano, M; Tedino, D.; Ruggiero, Fabiana; Priori, Alberto

doi:10.1007/s41465-018-0116-x

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…This kind of task typically evaluates moral judgment in a utilitarian-deontological axis, considering cognitive reasoning relative to harm aversion. Furthermore, considering cortical brain regions, the majority of the studies investigated the modulation of two cortical structures, DLPFC and ventral MPFC (or just VMPFC), considering their role in other social phenomena (Boggio et al, 2016a;Darby & Pascual-Leone, 2017;Di Nuzzo et al, 2018).…”

Section: Moral Judgmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modulating the Social and Affective Brain with Transcranial Stimulation Techniques

Rêgo

Marques

Coêlho

et al. 2022

Social and Affective Neuroscience of Everyday Human Interaction

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Transcranial brain stimulation (TBS) is a term that denotes different noninvasive techniques which aim to modulate brain cortical activity through an external source, usually an electric or magnetic one. Currently, there are several techniques categorized as TBS. However, two are more used for scientific research, the transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which stimulate brain areas with a high-intensity magnetic field or a weak electric current on the scalp, respectively. They represent an enormous contribution to behavioral, cognitive, and social neuroscience since they reveal how delimited brain cortical areas contribute to some behavior or cognition. They have also been proposed as a feasible tool in the clinical setting since they can modulate abnormal cognition or behavior due to brain activity modulation. This chapter will present the standard methods of transcranial stimulation, their contributions to social and affective neuroscience through a few main topics, and the studies that adopted those techniques, also summing their findings.

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Section: Moral Judgmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modulating the Social and Affective Brain with Transcranial Stimulation Techniques

Rêgo

Marques

Coêlho

et al. 2022

Social and Affective Neuroscience of Everyday Human Interaction

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The only research to date has been case reports of up to seven individuals. These participants generally showed improvements in aggression following DBS (Di Nuzzo et al., 2018; Franzini et al., 2013). It is unlikely that there will be any large‐scale studies soon, but it is conceivable that someday, severely violent repeat offenders may be willing to undergo the procedure.…”

Section: Part Ii: Breaking the Cycle Of Punishment And Violence Via Nmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breaking the Cycle of Violent Crime and Punishment: The Promise of Neuronormalization

Denson

2020

Social Issues Policy Review

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Violent crime elicits demand for punishment from the public, which can influence policy toward offenders. Paradoxically, harsh punishments such as incarceration often increase offending rather than deter it, which produces a cycle of violent crime and punishment. Violent offenders frequently possess risk factors that influence brain structure and function. These risk factors are genetic predisposition toward violence, adverse childhood experiences, alcohol use, and traumatic brain injury. The alteration in brain structure and function appears primarily in networks involved in threat detection (e.g., biased sensitivity to provocation), self-regulation (e.g., control over anger and aggressive urges), and social cognition (e.g., thinking about others' motives). If there is no treatment in people with these risk factors, brain responses to anger provocation will likely increase risk for reactive aggression. As a method to circumvent the cycle of violence and punishment, this review discusses the notion of normalizing brain responses to provocation such that they resemble responses of nonviolent people. A growing body of research suggests that brain normalization can occur by using biomedical instruments such as pharmaceuticals and brain stimulation to enhance moral behavior. Normalizing brain function via moral bioenhancement should inhibit reactive aggression. If such normalization occurs, there is no violent act to punish and hence the cycle of crime and punishment is broken. Policy makers may consider investing in trials of moral bioenhancement that could support existing treatments to reduce violence and recidivism and their associated costs.

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“…It has been documented that tDCS could enhance cognitive and emotional functions such as attention, memory and emotional information processing ( Di Nuzzo et al. , 2018 ; Galli et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

tDCS effect on prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review

Yuan

Tolomeo

Yang

et al. 2021

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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Previous studies have shown that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) could potentially promote prosocial behaviors. However, results from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are inconsistent. The current meta-analysis aimed to assess the effects of anodal and cathode tDCS using single session protocols on prosocial behaviors in healthy young adults, and explore potential moderators of these effects. The results showed that compared with sham stimulation, anodal (excitatory) stimulation significantly increased (g = 0.27, 95% CI [0.11, 0.43], Z = 3.30, p = 0.001) and cathodal (inhibitory) stimulation significantly decreased prosocial behaviors (g = -0.19, 95% CI [-0.39, -0.01], Z = -1.95, p = 0.051) using a multilevel meta-analytic model. These effects were not significantly modulated by stimulation parameters (e.g., duration, intensity and site) and types of prosocial behavior. The risk of publication bias for the included effects was minimal and no selective reporting (e.g., p-hacking) was found in the p-curve analysis. This meta-analysis showed that both anodal and cathode tDCS have small but significant effects on prosocial behaviors. The current study provides evidence that prosocial behaviors are linked to the activity of the ‘social brain’. Future studies are encouraged to further explore whether tDCS could effectively treat social dysfunctions in psychiatry disorders.

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How Brain Stimulation Techniques Can Affect Moral and Social Behaviour

Cited by 12 publications

References 49 publications

Modulating the Social and Affective Brain with Transcranial Stimulation Techniques

Modulating the Social and Affective Brain with Transcranial Stimulation Techniques

Breaking the Cycle of Violent Crime and Punishment: The Promise of Neuronormalization

tDCS effect on prosocial behavior: a meta-analytic review

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