Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism

Autores
Fittipaldi, María Sol; Armony, Jorge Lazaro; García, Adolfo Martín; Migeot, Joaquín; Cadaveira, Matías; Ibañez, Agustin Mariano; Baez, Sandra
Año de publicación
2023
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present difficulties in integrating mental state information in complex moral tasks. Yet, ASD research has not examined whether this process is influenced by emotions, let alone while capturing its neural bases. We investigated how language-induced emotions modulate intent-based moral judgment in ASD. In a fMRI task, 30 adults with ASD and 27 neurotypical controls read vignettes whose protagonists commit harm either accidentally or intentionally, and then decided how much punishment the protagonist deserved. Emotional content was manipulated across scenarios through the use of graphic language (designed to trigger arousing negative responses) vs. plain (just-the-facts, emotionless) language. Off-line functional connectivity correlates of task performance were also analyzed. In ASD, emotional (graphic) descriptions amplified punishment ratings of accidental harms, associated with increased activity in fronto-temporo-limbic, precentral, and postcentral/supramarginal regions (critical for emotional and empathic processes), and reduced connectivity among the orbitofrontal cortex and the angular gyrus (involved in mentalizing). Language manipulation did not influence intentional harm processing in ASD. In conclusion, in arousing and ambiguous social situations that lack intentionality clues (i.e. graphic accidental harm scenarios), individuals with ASD would misuse their emotional responses as the main source of information to guide their moral decisions. Conversely, in face of explicit harmful intentions, they would be able to compensate their socioemotional alterations and assign punishment through non-emotional pathways. Despite limitations, such as the small sample size and low ecological validity of the task, results of the present study proved reliable and have relevant theoretical and translational implications.
Fil: Fittipaldi, María Sol. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile. University of California; Estados Unidos
Fil: Armony, Jorge Lazaro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. McGill University; Canadá
Fil: García, Adolfo Martín. University of California; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina
Fil: Migeot, Joaquín. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile
Fil: Cadaveira, Matías. No especifíca;
Fil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Baez, Sandra. Universidad de los Andes; Colombia
Materia
AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/233440

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spelling Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autismFittipaldi, María SolArmony, Jorge LazaroGarcía, Adolfo MartínMigeot, JoaquínCadaveira, MatíasIbañez, Agustin MarianoBaez, SandraAUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERhttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/5.1https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present difficulties in integrating mental state information in complex moral tasks. Yet, ASD research has not examined whether this process is influenced by emotions, let alone while capturing its neural bases. We investigated how language-induced emotions modulate intent-based moral judgment in ASD. In a fMRI task, 30 adults with ASD and 27 neurotypical controls read vignettes whose protagonists commit harm either accidentally or intentionally, and then decided how much punishment the protagonist deserved. Emotional content was manipulated across scenarios through the use of graphic language (designed to trigger arousing negative responses) vs. plain (just-the-facts, emotionless) language. Off-line functional connectivity correlates of task performance were also analyzed. In ASD, emotional (graphic) descriptions amplified punishment ratings of accidental harms, associated with increased activity in fronto-temporo-limbic, precentral, and postcentral/supramarginal regions (critical for emotional and empathic processes), and reduced connectivity among the orbitofrontal cortex and the angular gyrus (involved in mentalizing). Language manipulation did not influence intentional harm processing in ASD. In conclusion, in arousing and ambiguous social situations that lack intentionality clues (i.e. graphic accidental harm scenarios), individuals with ASD would misuse their emotional responses as the main source of information to guide their moral decisions. Conversely, in face of explicit harmful intentions, they would be able to compensate their socioemotional alterations and assign punishment through non-emotional pathways. Despite limitations, such as the small sample size and low ecological validity of the task, results of the present study proved reliable and have relevant theoretical and translational implications.Fil: Fittipaldi, María Sol. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Armony, Jorge Lazaro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. McGill University; CanadáFil: García, Adolfo Martín. University of California; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de San Andrés; ArgentinaFil: Migeot, Joaquín. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; ChileFil: Cadaveira, Matías. No especifíca;Fil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Baez, Sandra. Universidad de los Andes; ColombiaNature2023-02info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/233440Fittipaldi, María Sol; Armony, Jorge Lazaro; García, Adolfo Martín; Migeot, Joaquín; Cadaveira, Matías; et al.; Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism; Nature; Scientific Reports; 13; 1; 2-2023; 1-242045-2322CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-27709-xinfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41598-023-27709-xinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-03T09:59:54Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/233440instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-03 09:59:55.297CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism
title Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism
spellingShingle Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism
Fittipaldi, María Sol
AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
title_short Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism
title_full Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism
title_fullStr Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism
title_full_unstemmed Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism
title_sort Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Fittipaldi, María Sol
Armony, Jorge Lazaro
García, Adolfo Martín
Migeot, Joaquín
Cadaveira, Matías
Ibañez, Agustin Mariano
Baez, Sandra
author Fittipaldi, María Sol
author_facet Fittipaldi, María Sol
Armony, Jorge Lazaro
García, Adolfo Martín
Migeot, Joaquín
Cadaveira, Matías
Ibañez, Agustin Mariano
Baez, Sandra
author_role author
author2 Armony, Jorge Lazaro
García, Adolfo Martín
Migeot, Joaquín
Cadaveira, Matías
Ibañez, Agustin Mariano
Baez, Sandra
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
topic AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/5
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present difficulties in integrating mental state information in complex moral tasks. Yet, ASD research has not examined whether this process is influenced by emotions, let alone while capturing its neural bases. We investigated how language-induced emotions modulate intent-based moral judgment in ASD. In a fMRI task, 30 adults with ASD and 27 neurotypical controls read vignettes whose protagonists commit harm either accidentally or intentionally, and then decided how much punishment the protagonist deserved. Emotional content was manipulated across scenarios through the use of graphic language (designed to trigger arousing negative responses) vs. plain (just-the-facts, emotionless) language. Off-line functional connectivity correlates of task performance were also analyzed. In ASD, emotional (graphic) descriptions amplified punishment ratings of accidental harms, associated with increased activity in fronto-temporo-limbic, precentral, and postcentral/supramarginal regions (critical for emotional and empathic processes), and reduced connectivity among the orbitofrontal cortex and the angular gyrus (involved in mentalizing). Language manipulation did not influence intentional harm processing in ASD. In conclusion, in arousing and ambiguous social situations that lack intentionality clues (i.e. graphic accidental harm scenarios), individuals with ASD would misuse their emotional responses as the main source of information to guide their moral decisions. Conversely, in face of explicit harmful intentions, they would be able to compensate their socioemotional alterations and assign punishment through non-emotional pathways. Despite limitations, such as the small sample size and low ecological validity of the task, results of the present study proved reliable and have relevant theoretical and translational implications.
Fil: Fittipaldi, María Sol. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile. University of California; Estados Unidos
Fil: Armony, Jorge Lazaro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. McGill University; Canadá
Fil: García, Adolfo Martín. University of California; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina
Fil: Migeot, Joaquín. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile
Fil: Cadaveira, Matías. No especifíca;
Fil: Ibañez, Agustin Mariano. Universidad de San Andrés; Argentina. Universidad Adolfo Ibañez; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Baez, Sandra. Universidad de los Andes; Colombia
description Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present difficulties in integrating mental state information in complex moral tasks. Yet, ASD research has not examined whether this process is influenced by emotions, let alone while capturing its neural bases. We investigated how language-induced emotions modulate intent-based moral judgment in ASD. In a fMRI task, 30 adults with ASD and 27 neurotypical controls read vignettes whose protagonists commit harm either accidentally or intentionally, and then decided how much punishment the protagonist deserved. Emotional content was manipulated across scenarios through the use of graphic language (designed to trigger arousing negative responses) vs. plain (just-the-facts, emotionless) language. Off-line functional connectivity correlates of task performance were also analyzed. In ASD, emotional (graphic) descriptions amplified punishment ratings of accidental harms, associated with increased activity in fronto-temporo-limbic, precentral, and postcentral/supramarginal regions (critical for emotional and empathic processes), and reduced connectivity among the orbitofrontal cortex and the angular gyrus (involved in mentalizing). Language manipulation did not influence intentional harm processing in ASD. In conclusion, in arousing and ambiguous social situations that lack intentionality clues (i.e. graphic accidental harm scenarios), individuals with ASD would misuse their emotional responses as the main source of information to guide their moral decisions. Conversely, in face of explicit harmful intentions, they would be able to compensate their socioemotional alterations and assign punishment through non-emotional pathways. Despite limitations, such as the small sample size and low ecological validity of the task, results of the present study proved reliable and have relevant theoretical and translational implications.
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023-02
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info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
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status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/233440
Fittipaldi, María Sol; Armony, Jorge Lazaro; García, Adolfo Martín; Migeot, Joaquín; Cadaveira, Matías; et al.; Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism; Nature; Scientific Reports; 13; 1; 2-2023; 1-24
2045-2322
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/233440
identifier_str_mv Fittipaldi, María Sol; Armony, Jorge Lazaro; García, Adolfo Martín; Migeot, Joaquín; Cadaveira, Matías; et al.; Emotional descriptions increase accidental harm punishment and its cortico-limbic signatures during moral judgment in autism; Nature; Scientific Reports; 13; 1; 2-2023; 1-24
2045-2322
CONICET Digital
CONICET
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language eng
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info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1038/s41598-023-27709-x
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