Four-dimensional neural space for moral inference




Chen, Jinglu; Santavirta, Severi; Putkinen, Vesa; Boggio, Paulo Sérgio; Nummenmaa, Lauri

PublisherElsevier

2026

 NeuroImage

121724

327

1053-8119

1095-9572

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121724

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2026.121724

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/508671952



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.


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).


Last updated on 29/01/2026 02:49:16 PM