"Look At Me! Look At Me!"
If all these "regions" were true, the brain's size (by my rigid calculations) would be roughly the size of one of Jupiter's moons (Io perhaps).
The latest region to be "discovered" is the morality center. Of course, this claim is outrageous and the scientist(s) involved are more akin to the insecure, needy person ever-present at parties who draws unwarranted attention to his or herself in a vain attempt to get people to notice them.Enough already!
The "science" behind the experiment involves the "researchers" imposing their own social judgements on the test subjects when placed in a situation involving the sharing of money.
Subjects were put into anonymous pairs, and one person in each pair was given $20 and asked to share it with the other. They could choose to offer any amount – if the second partner accepted it, they both got to keep their share.
In purely economic terms, the second partner should never reject an offer, even a really low one, such as $1, as they are still $1 better off than if they rejected it. Most people offered half of the money. But in cases where only a very small share was offered, the vast majority of "receivers" spitefully rejected the offer, ensuring that neither partner got paid.
Previous brain imaging studies have revealed that part of the frontal lobes known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, or DLPFC, becomes active when people face an unfair offer and have to decide what to do. Researchers had suggested this was because the region somehow suppresses our judgement of fairness.
But now, Ernst Fehr, an economist at the University of Zurich, and colleagues have come to the opposite conclusion – that the region suppresses our natural tendency to act in our own self interest.
They used a burst of magnetic pulses called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – produced by coils held over the scalp – to temporarily shut off activity in the DLPFC. Now, when faced with the opportunity to spitefully reject a cheeky low cash offer, subjects were actually more likely to take the money.
The researchers found that the DLPFC region's activity on the right side of the brain, but not the left, is vital for people to be able to dish out such punishment.
"The DLPFC is really causal in this decision. Its activity is crucial for overriding self interest," says Fehr. When the region is not working, people still know the offer is unfair, he says, but they do not act to punish the unfairness.
Oh boy.... here it comes ...
"Self interest is one important motive in every human," says Fehr, "but there are also fairness concerns in most people."
"In other words, this is the part of the brain dealing with morality," says Herb Gintis, an economist at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, US. "[It] is involved in comparing the costs and benefits of the material in terms of its fairness. It represses
the basic instincts."
You had to do it didn't you Herb? Couldn't control yourself. Had to make the ridiculous claim that you have found the morality center. To me the experiment proves the existance of the "You-Cheap-F***ing-Bastard-Center" in the brain. You are basing your claim on $20 - try giving the people $2 million each and asking them to share it. I bet they all will come to some agreement. Then you can claim you've found the "Generosity Center" in the brain. Ass
Didn't you notice your statement is based on what Ernst Fehr claims? He's an ECONOMIST. Why must you try to assign some physiological process to what is more likely an environmentally created activity. Morality is a learned event. Taught by family, friends, teachers, society, etc... Yes this learned behavior is processed in the brain. But it DOES NOT mean the brain possesses a special region for morality. IT DOES NOT mean we are born with a morality center. It just means that the brain uses neural resources from a particular section of the brain to process what we've learned. It is not inherent in the development of the brain.
Now before you continue along to the next "logical" step for your research... THERE IS NO MORALITY GENE. Ass.
I have an open question for you and all your neuroscientist buddies...
The primary function of kidneys is to remove toxic waste from the blood, the primary function of the lungs is to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide between the bloodstream and the atmosphere.
Labels: brain, neuroscience, research
