Moral Motivation and the Basal Forebrain

Abstract

Moral motivations drive humans to sacrifice selfish needs to serve the needs of others and internalized sociocultural norms. Over the past two decades, several brain regions have been associated with different aspects of moral cognition and behaviour. Only more recently, however, investigations have highlighted the importance of the basal forebrain for moral motivation. This includes the septo-hypothalamic region, implicated in kinship bonding across mammal species, and the closely connected subgenual frontal cortex. Understanding the neuroanatomy of moral motivation and its impairments will be fundamental for future research aiming to promote prosocial behaviour and mental health.

Keywords: Brodmann’s area 25; anterior cingulate cortex; attachment; hypothalamus; moral emotions; septal area; social cognition; subgenual cingulate cortex.