The Moral & Social Brain lab has been created and is currently led by Prof. Dr. Emilie A. Caspar (Ghent University, Belgium). Our main mission is to uncover the neural basis of (im)moral behaviors. To do so, we seek to understand how humans take agency and responsibility over their actions and how they perceive and feel the pain that they could cause to others. The sense of agency is an incredible ability for humans, probably one that allowed us to achieve critical steps in our development across human history. More than any other animals, humans have transformed and built their environment because they can take credits for their accomplishments. When we perform actions, we are able to recognize these actions as our owns and to take responsibility over the consequences of those actions because we experience agency. The sense of agency and the feeling of responsibility are thus critical neuro-cognitive processes associated with our decisions to act in a « good » or « bad » way. Empathy is also an incredible capacity for shaping and coloring our social interactions as it allows us to understand how others feel. Understanding the feeling of others is of course also shaped by both environmental factors, such as our culture, education or life experiences, and contextual factors. But first and foremost, our capacity to empathize with others is wired deep inside our brains. Empathy is primarily an inner capacity that all humans supposedly possess and which prevent us to hurt others, be it emotionally or physically.

We also study the consequences of immoral actions. Following a genocide, a war, or any dramatic conflict or event, desolation is often what remains. The surviving victims grapple with psychological trauma and, in some cases, permanent physical disabilities. This trauma also extends to their relatives who, witnessing the suffering of their loved ones, may feel powerless to help. It can even pass on to their children and grandchildren, who may inherit the sequela of their parents’ trauma both through genetics and social transmission. Even those who perpetrated these actions, perhaps claiming reduced responsibility in an attempt to escape legal repercussions, are unlikely to avoid the psychological repercussions. They must confront the mental toll of their actions or orders, potentially experiencing post-traumatic stress, guilt, and shame. These feelings can contribute to long-term mental health issues. Our research thus extends to understanding how both affective and non-affective brain alterations can persist years after such traumatic events, and how they may influence subsequent generations in terms of their mental health and prejudiced attitudes towards others.