Evidence for a dissociation between moral reasoning and moral decision-making in Tourette syndrome

Carmelo Mario Vicario; Nicoletta Maugeri; Chiara Lucifora; Adriana Prato; Massimo Mucciardi; Davide Martino; Renata Rizzo

doi:10.1111/jnp.12350

Evidence for a dissociation between moral reasoning and moral decision-making in Tourette syndrome

J Neuropsychol. 2023 Oct 3. doi: 10.1111/jnp.12350. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Carmelo Mario Vicario¹, Nicoletta Maugeri², Chiara Lucifora³, Adriana Prato^{1

2}, Massimo Mucciardi¹, Davide Martino^{4

5

6}, Renata Rizzo²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Education and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
² Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
³ STLab, ISTC-CNR, Rome, Italy.
⁴ Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
⁵ Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
⁶ Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

PMID: 37789746
DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12350

Abstract

Despite the growing interest on how Tourette syndrome (TS) affects social cognition skills, this field remains to date relatively under-explored. Here, we aim to advance knowledge on the topic by studying moral decision-making and moral reasoning in a group of adolescents with TS and a group of healthy controls. Overall, we found higher endorsement (i.e. a greater 'yes' response rate) for utilitarian solutions of incidental and instrumental moral dilemmas in TS compared to controls. By contrast, we reported an overall higher tendency of TS individuals to apply principles described in the moral foundation questionnaire to establish whether something is morally right or wrong. Our results document intact moral reasoning in TS and suggest that a deficit in suppressing inappropriate behaviours and/or altered sense of agency might be responsible for their higher utilitarian moral decision-making.

Keywords: Tourette syndrome; moral decision-making; moral reasoning inhibitory control.