EFEC
The Event-Feature-Emotion-Complex Framework (EFEC) is a neuroethical model established by Jorge Moll and colleagues to explain the emergence of moral emotions on the basis of neuroanatomical and neurophysiological findings. The basic idea is that moral sensation is generated from the combination of the following three main elements:
- structured event knowledge ("structured event knowledge"),
- socially perceptual and functional features,
- central motive states.
Structured event knowledge
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) structures and stores context-dependent knowledge and experiences from experienced situations in individual sequences and abstracts a concept for these events from them in order to be able to refer to them again later. Different types of information such as B. the representation of objects, actions, experiences etc. are stored in different areas of the prefrontal cortex. Routine tasks and what has been learned are stored in more posterior areas of the PFC. Unknown or poorly predictable events are presented in the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC), while the more anterior areas of the PFC are responsible for storing long-term goals.
Socially perceptual and functional properties
Coping with the constant flow of social perceptions such as B. facial expressions, body language, tone of voice etc. require the ability to effectively extract relevant social information from the environment. Dealing with this enormous flood of information is based on complex patterns of semantic knowledge. The pars posterior of the superior temporal sulcus (STS) is a key region for these abilities. People with lesions in this area of the brain show a reduced ability to understand social information such as B. Correctly decipher facial expressions and body language. A similar effect is observed in autistic people .
Socially functional properties are those that extract and store context-independent, semantic properties from various social situations. The anterior temporal lobe is important for this.
Central states of motivation
Together with limbic / paralimbic regions and structures of the brain stem , the activity of the hypothalamus plays a central role for "undirected" emotions such as eg. B. sexual excitability, hunger, aggression, social relationships, etc. These basic emotions can u. a. can also be influenced externally, for example by electrical stimulation, lesions, by intoxication but also by neuromodulators etc.
Formation of moral emotions
The emergence of moral emotions ultimately requires the integration of these three main components. An example: The moral emotion "compassion" arises from the combination of:
- Context-independent, socially perceptible characteristics, such as a child's sad expression.
- abstract, context-independent knowledge of concepts, for example knowledge of the helplessness of orphans.
- Motivation states such as grief, apprehension, personal attachment in combination with contextual knowledge of events, such as that the chances of adoption are poor.
A person who is impaired in recognizing and interpreting facial expressions (e.g., by brain injury or autism ) will not experience the corresponding moral emotions. The same applies, for example, to a person who is impaired in learning social concepts or moral values.
Conclusion
By integrating the three elements, effects through lesions, through incorrect interpretation of social signals, motivations, semantic knowledge as well as connections and culturally different moral concepts can be explained. The failure of a certain part of this system causes a certain behavioral problem, e.g. For example, patients with impairment of the DLPFC show abnormalities in dealing with unfamiliar situations. Basic moral principles are independent of culture. The triggering of these natural, “basic moral” principles is, however, modified by learned and cultural factors (abstract, context-independent knowledge). Ultimately, this means that the situation that triggers a moral perception depends on the socio-cultural environment and the moral evaluations conveyed with it.
swell
- ↑ Jorge Moll, Roland Zahn, Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza, Frank Krueger & Jordan Grafman: The event – feature – emotion complex framework , in Nature Reviews Neuroscience 6 , 799-809 (October 2005)
- ↑ Changeux, J.-P .; Damasio, AR; Singer, W .; Christen, Y. (Eds.): Neurobiology of Human Values , 2005, ISBN 978-3-540-26253-4
- ↑ Jorge Moll, Roland Zahn, Ricardo de Oliveira-Souza, Frank Krueger and Jordan Grafman: The neural basis of human moral cognition . Nature Reviews Neuroscience 6 (2005) 799-809. PMID 16276356