Decision Neuroscience

Instrumental harm and impartial beneficence distinctively frame cognitive representations of moral decision problems

Utilitarian ethical theories argue that the morality of actions depends on their consequences for impartially maximizing overall welfare. Recent research suggests that individual differences in utilitarian tendencies fall along two dimensions: a …

Prefronal cortex and (uniquely) human cooperation

Humans have an exceptional ability to cooperate relative to many other species. We review the neural mechanisms supporting human cooperation, focusing on the prefrontal cortex. One key feature of human social life is the prevalence of cooperative …

Research on the neurocomputational mechanisms of moral judgment has typically focused on contrasting utilitarian preferences to impartially maximize aggregate welfare and deontological preferences that judge the morality of actions based on rules. …