"Hey! I resemble that remark!"
Posted on 03/31/2010 1:47:34 PM PDT by llevrok
Scientists have discovered a real-life 'moral compass' in the brain that controls how we judge other people's behaviour.
The region, which lies just behind the right ear, becomes more active when we think about other people's misdemeanours or good works.
In an extraordinary experiment, researchers were able to use powerful magnets to disrupt this area of the brain and make people temporarily less moral.
The study highlights how our sense of right and wrong isn't just based on upbringing, religion or philosophy - but by the biology of our brains.
Dr Liane Young, who led the study, said: 'You think of morality as being a really high-level behaviour. To be able to apply a magnetic field to a specific brain region and change people's moral judgements is really astonishing.'
The moral compass lies in a part of the brain called the right temporo-parietal junction.(snip) just behind the right ear.
The researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used a non-invasive technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation
The technique generates a magnetic field on a small part of the skull which creates weak electric currents in the brain. These currents interfere with nearby brain cells and prevent them from firing normally.
In the first experiment, 12 volunteers were exposed to the magnetic field for 25 minutes before they were given a series of 'moral maze' style scenarios. For each of the 192 scenarios, they were asked to make a judgement about the character's actions on a scale of 1 for 'absolutely forbidden' to 7 for 'absolutely permissible'.
It's not the first time that scientists have found parts of the brain that specialise in ethics and morality. Last year American scientists claimed to have found a "god spot" - a region of the brain that controls religious belief.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Honey, you know that I was too close to the refrigerator magnets when I said that!
"Hey! I resemble that remark!"
I want a truckload sent to congress STAT!
...but don’t wear them without me.
Well, a "chick magnet" would sure be cheaper than having to buy them drinks first.
I’m not sure why these scientists think this is significant. After all, it’s been possible to hijack people’s brains with drugs for years. Now they can do it with magnets.
But the brain is not the mind, and when they take away the drugs or turn off the magnet, the essential person is still there.
“Maybe a treatment for sociopaths could be developed.
“
I like your positive outlook and faith in humanity. I was thinking of a conscienceless soldier.
I wonder if stereo headphones or earbuds would do the same.
Once or twice, I’ve had my cellphone sitting on the table next to a radio. Just a brief second BEFORE the cellphone would ring, the radio started making weird noises. I guess those are radio waves and not magnetic though.
Right, we are a bio-electrical-chemical system.
Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and other Democrat leaders have MAGGOTS in their brains, researchers say.
Foil hats work!
Yeah, right—only in the UK.
Scientists discover moral compass in the brain which can be controlled by magnets=
Whenever my girlfriend whispers in my ear, I wanna go south with her.
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