A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Four-dimensional neural space for moral inference
Authors: Chen, Jinglu; Santavirta, Severi; Putkinen, Vesa; Boggio, Paulo Sérgio; Nummenmaa, Lauri
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication year: 2026
Journal: NeuroImage
Article number: 121724
Volume: 327
ISSN: 1053-8119
eISSN: 1095-9572
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121724
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121724
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/508671952
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY NC ND
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Intuitive moral inference enables us to evaluate moral situations and judge their rightness or wrongness. Although Moral Foundations Theory provides a framework for understanding moral inference, its underlying neural basis remains unclear. To capture spontaneous neural activity during moral inference, participants were instructed to watch a film rich in moral content without making explicit judgments while undergoing fMRI scanning. Independent participants evaluated the moment-to-moment presence of twenty moral dimensions in the film. Correlation and consensus cluster analyses revealed four independent main moral dimensions: virtue, vice, hierarchy, and rebellion. While each dimension exhibited unique neural activation patterns, the temporoparietal junction and inferior parietal lobe were activated across all types of moral inference. These findings establish the low-dimensional nature for the neural basis of intuitive moral inference in everyday settings.
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Funding information in the publication:
This work was supported by Aatos Erkon Säätiö, China Scholarship Council (202106040042), Alfred Kordelin Foundation, Research Council of Finland (grant #350416), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) researcher fellowship (grant no. 310419/2023-9) and INCT (National Institute of Science and Technology on Social and Affective Neuroscience, grant no. 406463/2022-0).
