How can studying psychopaths help us understand the neural mechanisms of moral judgment?

Abstract

There is growing interest in the neural basis of human moral cognition, in hopes that neuroscience can help to explain the general process of moral judgment. The role of emotion and cognition in moral judgment has yet to be determined. The study of psychopathic traits may be able to give us some insight into this because of their deficits in emotional responding. Our recent publication in Molecular Psychiatry addresses this issue by examining how brain functioning during moral decision-making varies as a function of psychopathic traits.