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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I’m Christie Nicholson. Got a minute.

Innocent? Or guilty? As any judge can tell you, it’s not so simple.  What was going on the defendant’s mind is important. Underlying¹ intent is a pretty big deal when it comes to moral judgment².

Past studies have shown that an area of the brain, the temporal parietal junction³, shows increased activity when people read about another’s intentions or beliefs.

So recently scientists wanted to see if impairment to the function of this area would have any effect on moral judgment.

Their paper appears in the Proceedings⁴ of the National Academy of Science.

The researchers disrupted the activity in the temporal parietal junction using what’s called transcranial magnetic stimulation⁵ or TMS. And they asked subjects to consider the morality of various acts. Some where the perpetrator had the intent to harm, others where there was no premeditation.

When subjects had their brain’s affected⁶ by TMS, they focused less on the intention of the perpetrator and more on the outcome of the act. Regardless of whether the protagonist⁷ wanted to poison their friend, if the friend was ok, then it wasn’t such a bad thing. As opposed to a lucky outcome after a heinous⁸ act.

Because the real world is often less black and white, where judgment is easy, than shades of gray.

Thanks for the minute for Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I’m Christie Nicholson.