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. 2016 Mar;11(3):387-94.
doi: 10.1093/scan/nsv107. Epub 2015 Sep 4.

Neuromodulation of group prejudice and religious belief

Colin Holbrook  1 , Keise Izuma  2 , Choi Deblieck  3 , Daniel M T Fessler  4 , Marco Iacoboni  5
Affiliations

Neuromodulation of group prejudice and religious belief

Colin Holbrook et al. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

People cleave to ideological convictions with greater intensity in the aftermath of threat. The posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC) plays a key role in both detecting discrepancies between desired and current conditions and adjusting subsequent behavior to resolve such conflicts. Building on prior literature examining the role of the pMFC in shifts in relatively low-level decision processes, we demonstrate that the pMFC mediates adjustments in adherence to political and religious ideologies. We presented participants with a reminder of death and a critique of their in-group ostensibly written by a member of an out-group, then experimentally decreased both avowed belief in God and out-group derogation by downregulating pMFC activity via transcranial magnetic stimulation. The results provide the first evidence that group prejudice and religious belief are susceptible to targeted neuromodulation, and point to a shared cognitive mechanism underlying concrete and abstract decision processes. We discuss the implications of these findings for further research characterizing the cognitive and affective mechanisms at play.

Keywords: ethnocentrism; posterior medial frontal cortex; religiosity; transcranial magnetic stimulation.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Effects of TMS on US citizens’ ratings of pro-US and anti-US immigrants.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Effects of TMS on endorsement of positive vs negative religious beliefs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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