Magnetic field can alter human sense of morality
A new study by MIT researchers shows that people’s sense of morality can be altered significantly by strong magnets that interfere with neuron activity in a particular part of the brain. Prior studies have found great activity in right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) when people consider moral judgments like evaluating another person’s the intentions, so the researchers decided to disrupted right TPJ activity by “inducing a current in the brain using a magnetic field applied to the scalp.” This noticeably impaired subjects’ ability to make moral judgments based on others’ behavior (such as someone allowing his girlfriend to cross a bridge he knows is unsafe). The study shows that human morals are quite easily corruptible, but more importantly, it sheds light on how the brain compartmentalizes moral decision making.
