A recent study in MIT proved alteration of moral judgments by application of magnetic field on the right TPJ of the brain
MIT scientists have proven in their recent study that a person's moral judgments can be altered by disrupting or disturbing the current activity of the brain region, TPJ.
This study is a follow-up of the previous study of the right TPJ, a region of the brain actively involved in making moral decisions or judgments. TPJ, acronym for temporo-parietal junction is observed to be very active when we think of something to other people.
In this study, led by Rebecca Saxe, MIT assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences, the right TPJ's activity is disrupted by inducing a current in the brain with a magnetic field applied on the surface of the scalp. After this test, it was observed that "subjects' ability to make moral judgments that require an understanding of other people's intentions -- for example, a failed murder attempt -- was impaired", reported Saxe in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
How was this accomplished? The scientists used a non-invasive strategy known as trans-cranial magnetic stimulation or (TMS) to selectively interfere or disrupt with brain activity in the right TPJ. A magnetic field applied to a portion of the skull generates weak electric currents that causes brain cells' within the area to fire normally, however the effect is only short-lived.
Click here to read more about Altering Moral Judgments with Trans-Cranial Magnetic Stimulation, MIT Brain Science Project
