FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·October 15, 2020·3 min readAutomatic Decision-Making Prevents Us Harming OthersPeople make automatic and efficient decisions when learning to avoid others. When learning to avoid harming themselves, people make become more deliberative. The study also found people were more willing to repeat decisions that were previously harmful to themselves if they believed better results would occur in the future.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·June 13, 2020·3 min readMoral reflection can be seen in brain activity and eye movementsUsing scenes from movies, researchers discover how different brain areas can be used flexibly and as needed. The study sheds light on how the brain transitions between moral thinking and empathy.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·January 18, 2020·5 min readHow does your body respond to feelings of moral outrage? Depends on your politicsStudy reveals liberals and conservatives feel certain violations of moral concerns, such as loyalty and purity, in different areas of their bodies.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceNeuroscience VideosPsychology·December 29, 2019·4 min readWatching pornography rewires the brain to a more juvenile stateFrom eroding the prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain critical for impulse control, to damaging the dopamine reward system, researchers evaluate the impact of viewing pornography on the brain.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·December 26, 2019·4 min readWhy some people distrust atheists25% of the population in the US identify as non-religious, with 3% actively identifying as atheist. Researchers investigate why many people distrust those who identify as being atheist.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·September 6, 2019·4 min readBad to the bone or just bad behavior?How we perceive moral goodness or moral badness, as either biological and innate traits or potentially changeable, can guide whether we are willing to be lenient over other peoples' transgressions.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·August 15, 2019·3 min readTestosterone has a complicated relationship with moral reasoningContrary to popular belief, a new study reveals higher levels of testosterone may make people more sensitive to moral norms.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·July 19, 2019·4 min readHumans aren’t designed to be happyResearchers argue humans did not evolve to be consistently happy but primarily survive and reproduce. Evolution, they say, placed an advantage on depression, preventing humans from engaging in risky or hopeless situations.Read More
FeaturedNeurologyNeurosciencePsychology·June 14, 2019·4 min readMoral emotions, a diagnostic tool for frontotemporal dementia?Moral emotions are significantly more impaired than emotions without moral content in those with frontotemporal dementia (FTD). By contrast, those with Alzheimer's disease exhibit similar performance in both moral and extra-moral emotions as healthy subjects. The findings provide a novel biomarker for the diagnosis of FTD.Read More
FeaturedNeuroethicsNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·April 5, 2019·3 min readWhen robots commit wrongdoing, people may incorrectly assign the blameAs robots become more autonomous, people will regard them as more responsible for accidental wrongdoing.Read More
FeaturedGeneticsNeuroscience·February 25, 2019·4 min readSome Personal Beliefs and Morals May Stem From GeneticsA new study reports genetics, in addition to environmental factors, influence morals and some personal behaviors in adults.Read More
FeaturedPsychology·October 18, 2018·4 min readHigh Stakes Decision Making Causes More Cheating and Less CharityAccording to researchers, when faced with high stakes decision making tasks, people are more likely to lose sight of personal morality, leading to more cheating and less charitable efforts.Read More