From Blame to Punishment: Disrupting Prefrontal Cortex Activity Reveals Norm Enforcement Mechanisms

Overview

Journal Neuron

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Neurology

Date 2015 Sep 21

PMID 26386518

Citations 36

Authors

Joshua W Buckholtz

Justin W Martin

Michael T Treadway

Katherine Jan

David H Zald

Owen Jones

Rene Marois

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The social welfare provided by cooperation depends on the enforcement of social norms. Determining blameworthiness and assigning a deserved punishment are two cognitive cornerstones of norm enforcement. Although prior work has implicated the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in norm-based judgments, the relative contribution of this region to blameworthiness and punishment decisions remains poorly understood. Here, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and fMRI to determine the specific role of DLPFC function in norm-enforcement behavior. DLPFC rTMS reduced punishment for wrongful acts without affecting blameworthiness ratings, and fMRI revealed punishment-selective DLPFC recruitment, suggesting that these two facets of norm-based decision making are neurobiologically dissociable. Finally, we show that DLPFC rTMS affects punishment decision making by altering the integration of information about culpability and harm. Together, these findings reveal a selective, causal role for DLPFC in norm enforcement: representational integration of the distinct information streams used to make punishment decisions.

Citing Articles

On the Perception of Moral Standing to Blame.

Ghezae I, Yang F, Yu H Open Mind (Camb). 2025; 9:138-168.

PMID: 39877148 PMC: 11774539. DOI: 10.1162/opmi_a_00185.

The impact of legal expertise on moral decision-making biases.

Baez S, Patino-Saenz M, Martinez-Cotrina J, Aponte D, Caicedo J, Santamaria-Garcia H Humanit Soc Sci Commun. 2024; 7(1):103.

PMID: 38989005 PMC: 11230913. DOI: 10.1057/s41599-020-00595-8.

Disrupting the Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex Attenuates the Difference in Decision-Making for Altruistic Punishment Between the Gain and Loss Contexts.

Liu Y, Xing H, Gao Y, Bian X, Fu X, DiFabrizio B Brain Topogr. 2024; 37(5):699-711.

PMID: 38200358 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-023-01029-9.

Causal roles of prefrontal and temporo-parietal theta oscillations for inequity aversion.

Christian P, Kapetaniou G, Soutschek A Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2023; 18(1).

PMID: 37930808 PMC: 10642380. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad061.

Brain stimulation reveals distinct motives underlying reciprocal punishment and reward.

Micheli L, Negrini M, Schuhmann T, Riedl A Proc Biol Sci. 2022; 289(1986):20221590.

PMID: 36321495 PMC: 9627709. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1590.

References

De Pisapia N, Slomski J, Braver T . Functional specializations in lateral prefrontal cortex associated with the integration and segregation of information in working memory. Cereb Cortex. 2006; 17(5):993-1006. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhl010. View

Knoch D, Pascual-Leone A, Meyer K, Treyer V, Fehr E . Diminishing reciprocal fairness by disrupting the right prefrontal cortex. Science. 2006; 314(5800):829-32. DOI: 10.1126/science.1129156. View

Sakai T, Mikami A, Tomonaga M, Matsui M, Suzuki J, Hamada Y . Differential prefrontal white matter development in chimpanzees and humans. Curr Biol. 2011; 21(16):1397-402. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2011.07.019. View

Crockett M, Ozdemir Y, Fehr E . The value of vengeance and the demand for deterrence. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2014; 143(6):2279-86. PMC: 4242077. DOI: 10.1037/xge0000018. View

Chang L, Smith A, Dufwenberg M, Sanfey A . Triangulating the neural, psychological, and economic bases of guilt aversion. Neuron. 2011; 70(3):560-72. PMC: 3114404. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.02.056. View

Mesulam M . From sensation to cognition. Brain. 1998; 121 ( Pt 6):1013-52. DOI: 10.1093/brain/121.6.1013. View

Fuster J . Frontal lobes. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 1993; 3(2):160-5. DOI: 10.1016/0959-4388(93)90204-c. View

Prehn K, Wartenburger I, Meriau K, Scheibe C, Goodenough O, Villringer A . Individual differences in moral judgment competence influence neural correlates of socio-normative judgments. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2008; 3(1):33-46. PMC: 2569820. DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsm037. View

Robertson E, Theoret H, Pascual-Leone A . Studies in cognition: the problems solved and created by transcranial magnetic stimulation. J Cogn Neurosci. 2003; 15(7):948-60. DOI: 10.1162/089892903770007344. View

10.

Sanfey A, Rilling J, Aronson J, Nystrom L, Cohen J . The neural basis of economic decision-making in the Ultimatum Game. Science. 2003; 300(5626):1755-8. DOI: 10.1126/science.1082976. View

11.

Fehr E, Rockenbach B . Human altruism: economic, neural, and evolutionary perspectives. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2004; 14(6):784-90. DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2004.10.007. View

12.

Passingham D, Sakai K . The prefrontal cortex and working memory: physiology and brain imaging. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2004; 14(2):163-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2004.03.003. View

13.

Nee D, Brown J, Askren M, Berman M, Demiralp E, Krawitz A . A meta-analysis of executive components of working memory. Cereb Cortex. 2012; 23(2):264-82. PMC: 3584956. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhs007. View

14.

Bunge S, Wendelken C, Badre D, Wagner A . Analogical reasoning and prefrontal cortex: evidence for separable retrieval and integration mechanisms. Cereb Cortex. 2004; 15(3):239-49. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhh126. View

15.

De Pisapia N, Sandrini M, Braver T, Cattaneo L . Integration in working memory: a magnetic stimulation study on the role of left anterior prefrontal cortex. PLoS One. 2012; 7(8):e43731. PMC: 3427149. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043731. View

16.

Henrich J, McElreath R, Barr A, Ensminger J, Barrett C, Bolyanatz A . Costly punishment across human societies. Science. 2006; 312(5781):1767-70. DOI: 10.1126/science.1127333. View

17.

Fehr E, Camerer C . Social neuroeconomics: the neural circuitry of social preferences. Trends Cogn Sci. 2007; 11(10):419-27. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2007.09.002. View

18.

Barbas H, Zikopoulos B . The prefrontal cortex and flexible behavior. Neuroscientist. 2007; 13(5):532-45. PMC: 2855184. DOI: 10.1177/1073858407301369. View

19.

Braver T, Cohen J, Nystrom L, Jonides J, Smith E, Noll D . A parametric study of prefrontal cortex involvement in human working memory. Neuroimage. 1997; 5(1):49-62. DOI: 10.1006/nimg.1996.0247. View

20.

Boyd R, Gintis H, Bowles S . Coordinated punishment of defectors sustains cooperation and can proliferate when rare. Science. 2010; 328(5978):617-20. DOI: 10.1126/science.1183665. View