João Luis Modesto dos Santos (Sixth Year of Medical School ... › documents › 29044 › 6265047...
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Neurobiology of decision making: An approach from neuroscience and philosophy to the decision making process in extreme cases Contact: João Luis Modesto dos Santos Email: [email protected] Dr. Javier Bernácer María (Institute for Culture and Society, Mind-Brain Project, University of Navarra) João Luis Modesto dos Santos (Sixth Year of Medical School, University of Navarra) The facts The cases Tsarnaev brothers Anders Breivik 4. Philosophy of Action Actions ≠ happeningsAgency Intentionality: “A reason to do something is also a reason to intend to do it”. • Immediate intentions and future intentions. • Intention “with which”: the purpose or aim of the action. • Intention “in acting”: characteristic traits of the agent by showing directedness towards some ends. Intentional state is a huge network of beliefs: • Coherence • Directedness • Normativity • Holism • Subjectivity Mental context Physical world 5. Neuroscience of decision making 6. Theory of minimal error and adaptation How can a rational decision take to such evil actions? Rational decision making process 3. The psychopath and the martyr Psychopath is the most important “I want to kill, now” is justified “I must do this” “The consequence is worth it” is irrelevant, “I just want to kill” Outcome Action Martyr Cognitive decisions Reactive decisions VMPFC mPFC, vStriatum and pCingulate LOFC Mesolimbic dopamine system Orbitofrontal system • Stimulus value • Outcome value • Updating values •Prediction error Midbrain dopamine neurons Cortical and striatal targets Moral decisions PFC FPC FPC and angular gyrus FPC, mOFC and STS Cortical and subcortical-limbic system • Moral behavior impairment • Factual vs moral statements • Personal moral implication • Moral sensitivity Adapted from Moll et al.: The Neural Basis of Moral Cognition 8. Bibliography Carlos J. Moya. The Philosophy of Action: An Introduction. (Polity Press, ed.). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell Ltd; 1990. Leonard C, Tørrissen T. The Case of Anders Behring Breivik – Language of a Lone Terrorist. Behav Sci Law. 2014;32:408-422. Levy DJ, Glimcher PW. The root of all value: a neural common currency for choice. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2012;22(6):1027-1038. Moll J, et al. The neural basis of moral cognition: sentiments, concepts, and values. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2008;1124:161-180. Z Action 1 Action 2 Action x Habit formed A B D C … A B D C … Z A B D C … Z A B D C … Z System of beliefs (range) Action difficulty to the system of beliefs (degrees) 45º 20º 0º -10º 2. Psychiatric evaluation Psychiatric evaluations of the cases demonstrated no psychiatric pathology explaining their actions. “Even for a forensic psychiatrist, it can be difficult to reconcile the possibility that a person could carry out such a massacre without some form of mental incapacity. However, when one begins to look below the surface and dig a little more deeply into Breivik’s compendium, as well as his statements since the attack, a different picture begins to emerge, of a man who possessed the capacity for complex thought and a well-developed understanding of human nature and emotions. A man whose words and actions (…) demonstrate a mind significantly more rational and reality-based than one might presume at first glance.” (Tørrissen, the psychiatrist assigned by the court to Breivik’s case) 1. Introduction In 2011, Anders Behring Breivik placed a bomb in Oslo’s city center and entered Utøya’s island where he caused the death of 77 people. The Tsarnaev brothers, 19 year-old Jahar and his older brother, were responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 where four people died and 264 were injured. The first intuition when reading such facts is to search for the psychiatric pathology explaining it. I have found that when people are confronted with these cases the tendency is uniform in finding an explanation: “He is crazy”. However, is this the case? 7. Conclusion • Philosophy of action and neuroscience of decision making are complementary visions of the human action that, when considered together, shed some light on rational decision making. • This investigation does not deny psychiatric disorders as one explanation of criminology, but calls the attention to free will and rational wrong decisions to be real. • Further investigations on how beliefs, ideals and habits condition human action are fundamental to understand the reality of decision making.
Transcript of João Luis Modesto dos Santos (Sixth Year of Medical School ... › documents › 29044 › 6265047...
Neurobiology of decision making: An approach from neuroscience and philosophy to the
decision making process in extreme cases
Contact: João Luis Modesto dos Santos Email: [email protected]
Dr. Javier Bernácer María (Institute for Culture and Society, Mind-Brain Project, University of Navarra) João Luis Modesto dos Santos (Sixth Year of Medical School, University of Navarra)
The facts
The cases
Tsarnaev brothers Anders Breivik
4. Philosophy of Action Actions ≠ happeningsAgency
Intentionality: “A reason to do something is also a reason to intend to do it”. • Immediate intentions and future intentions. • Intention “with which”: the purpose or aim of the action. • Intention “in acting”: characteristic traits of the agent by showing directedness towards some ends.
Intentional state is a huge network of beliefs: • Coherence • Directedness • Normativity • Holism • Subjectivity
Mental context
Physical world
5. Neuroscience of decision making
6. Theory of minimal error and adaptation
How can a rational decision take to such evil actions?
Rational decision making process
3. The psychopath and the martyr
Psychopath is the most important
“I want to kill, now”
is justified “I must do this”
“The consequence is worth it”
is irrelevant,
“I just want to kill” Outcome Action
Martyr
Cognitive decisions
Reactive decisions
VMPFC
mPFC, vStriatum and pCingulate
LOFC
Mesolimbic dopamine
system
Orbitofrontal system
•Stimulus value
•Outcome value
•Updating values
•Prediction error Midbrain dopamine neurons
Cortical and striatal targets
Moral
decisions
PFC FPC FPC and angular gyrus FPC, mOFC and STS
Cortical and subcortical-limbic
system
• Moral behavior impairment • Factual vs moral statements • Personal moral implication • Moral sensitivity
Adapted from Moll et al.: The Neural Basis of Moral Cognition
8. Bibliography Carlos J. Moya. The Philosophy of Action: An Introduction. (Polity Press, ed.). Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell Ltd; 1990.
Leonard C, Tørrissen T. The Case of Anders Behring Breivik – Language of a Lone Terrorist. Behav Sci Law. 2014;32:408-422.
Levy DJ, Glimcher PW. The root of all value: a neural common currency for choice. Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2012;22(6):1027-1038.
Moll J, et al. The neural basis of moral cognition: sentiments, concepts, and values. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2008;1124:161-180.
Z
Action 1 Action 2 Action x Habit formed
A
B
DC
…
A
B
DC
…
Z
A
B
DC
…
Z A
B
DC
…
Z
System of beliefs(range)
Action difficultyto the system of beliefs
(degrees)
45º 20º 0º -10º
2. Psychiatric evaluation
Psychiatric evaluations of the cases demonstrated no psychiatric pathology explaining their actions.
“Even for a forensic psychiatrist, it can be difficult to reconcile the possibility that a person could carry out such a massacre without some form of mental incapacity. However, when one begins to look below the surface and dig a little more deeply into Breivik’s compendium, as well as his statements since the attack, a different picture begins to emerge, of a man who possessed the capacity for complex thought and a well-developed understanding of human nature and emotions. A man whose words and actions (…) demonstrate a mind significantly more rational and reality-based than one might presume at first glance.”
(Tørrissen, the psychiatrist assigned by the court to Breivik’s case)
1. Introduction In 2011, Anders Behring Breivik placed a bomb in Oslo’s city center and entered Utøya’s island where
he caused the death of 77 people. The Tsarnaev brothers, 19 year-old Jahar and his older brother, were
responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 where four people died and 264 were injured.
The first intuition when reading such facts is to search for the psychiatric pathology explaining it. I have found that when people are confronted with these cases the tendency is uniform in finding an explanation: “He is crazy”. However, is this the case?
7. Conclusion • Philosophy of action and neuroscience of decision making are
complementary visions of the human action that, when considered together, shed some light on rational decision making.
• This investigation does not deny psychiatric disorders as one explanation of
criminology, but calls the attention to free will and rational wrong decisions to be real.
• Further investigations on how beliefs, ideals and habits condition human
action are fundamental to understand the reality of decision making.
