神经科学与心理学2022pnas.org
血清素选择性影响道德判断与行为
Serotonin selectively influences moral judgment and behavior
进阶 · 约 45 分钟读完前置知识：神经科学基础、血清素与SSRI常识、道德心理学基础
导读
这篇 2010 年发表于 PNAS 的论文研究血清素（5-羟色胺）是否选择性地影响道德判断与行为。研究者通过操控血清素水平，观察其对道德决策的影响，发现血清素会选择性作用于道德判断，尤其是涉及伤害他人的情境。
HN 关注点：血清素与 SSRIs（抗抑郁药）影响大量人群，而论文第一作者 Marc Hauser 后来因学术不端被调查，引发读者对研究可信度和药物改变道德行为的广泛讨论。
HN 评论精选
这几条评论里：质疑 1 补充 2 亲历 1
亲历亲历者称抗抑郁药钝化情绪、削弱内疚感，导致道德行为失范，因此更信赖心理治疗
（个人经历）我家两系都有强烈的抑郁和焦虑病史，我自己从青少年起就受其困扰。经过上一次用药经历后，我极度不愿再服用抗抑郁/抗焦虑药物。药物对我而言是钝化所有情绪——我不再悲伤或焦虑，只是对一切都麻木冷漠。冷漠非常可怕：我从爱好、性、运动中再也感受不到快乐，既不能悲伤也不能开心。更糟的是，我出现了以前绝不会有的行为，比如强迫性撒谎。我的道德准则被破坏了，因为不再有内疚和羞耻来约束不端行为。如今回想那时的所作所为，我感到恶心。这类药物有价值，每个人的体验因基因和生活环境而异，但成年后我更倾向于依靠治疗中学到的应对策略而非药物。
o10449366查看英文原文
(Just my personal, anecdotal experience - I have strong family history of depression and anxiety on both sides of my family and it's something that's afflicted me since I was a teenager.) I will be extremely hesitant to take antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications ever again after my last experience with them. For me, the medications helped by tempering all of my feelings - I no longer felt sad or anxious, instead I just felt mellow and apathetic about everything. And feeling apathy is an incredibly scary thing because I also no longer derived any joy from my hobbies, from sex, from exercise, etc. I could no longer feel sad but I could no longer feel happy, either. Even worse, I found myself engaging in behaviors I would never have engaged in otherwise, like compulsive lying. My moral code was compromised because I no longer felt the guilt and shame that normally inhibits unscrupulous behavior. I look back on that time now and I think about some of my actions and I feel nauseous. There is value to medications that inhibit or regulate serotonin, and every individual's experience will be slightly different based on their genetics and the circumstances of their life. However, for me, even though I benefited from them at various points in my life (especially as a teenager), as an adult now I'm much more likely to depend on coping strategies I've learned through therapy than medication when it comes to dealing with my mood.
质疑质疑论文可信度：一作 Marc Hauser 后被认定学术不端
提醒一下：读到任何有 Marc Hauser 作为主要作者的文章时，都应先了解关于他研究方法的争议（见维基百科'科学不端'条目）。本文发表于 2010 年，他 2011 年辞去哈佛教职，2012 年被政府研究诚信办公室认定存在学术不端。
rossdavidh查看英文原文
Just FYI, when reading any article with Marc Hauser as one of the lead authors, one should at least read up on the controversy regarding his methods: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Hauser#Scientific_misconduct This article was published in 2010, he had to resign his faculty position at Harvard in 2011, and was found guilty of scientific misconduct in 2012 by the government Office of Research Integrity.
补充推测：大量人口服用 SSRIs 可能影响社会道德与政治氛围
考虑到大约 15% 的美国人在服用 SSRIs，我很好奇这对政治格局有何影响——过去几十年政治似乎被一种新的道德说教淹没了。
colechristensen查看英文原文
Huh, given that something like 15% of Americans are on SSRIs, I wonder how this affects the political landscape (which seems overrun with a new kind of moralizing in the last few decades)
补充补充资料：许多常见药物都可能改变情绪、共情与人格
这让我想起 BBC 文章《改变我们是谁的药物》：普通药物不只是影响身体，也影响大脑。从对乙酰氨基酚、抗组胺药、他汀到抗抑郁药，有新证据表明它们可能让人冲动、愤怒或不安，削弱对陌生人的共情，甚至改变神经质等人格基本面向。如果属实，影响深远——这些是全球消费最广的药物，即使个体效应很小，也可能塑造数百万人的性格。
nosianu查看英文原文
This reminded me of this BBC article about the brain effects of ordinary drugs: "The medications that change who we are" https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200108-the-medications-that-change-who-we-are > They’ve been linked to road rage, pathological gambling, and complicated acts of fraud. Some make us less neurotic, and others may even shape our social relationships. It turns out many ordinary medications don’t just affect our bodies – they affect our brains. Why? And should there be warnings on packets? > We’re all familiar with the mind-bending properties of psychedelic drugs – but it turns out ordinary medications can be just as potent. From paracetamol (known as acetaminophen in the US) to antihistamines, statins, asthma medications and antidepressants, there’s emerging evidence that they can make us impulsive, angry, or restless, diminish our empathy for strangers, and even manipulate fundamental aspects of our personalities, such as how neurotic we are. > If these claims are true, the implications are profound. The list of potential culprits includes some of the most widely consumed drugs on the planet, meaning that even if the effects are small at an individual level, they could be shaping the personalities of millions of people.
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