788 Table 2 Conjunction analyses that test for topographical conver- gence between the individual ALE meta-analyses of moral cognition, theory of mind, and empathy Macroanatomical location MNI coordinates Morality \ (theory of mind–empathy) Ventromedial prefrontal cortex Frontopolar cortex Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex Right temporo-parietal junction (PGa) Left temporo-parietal junction (PGa, PGp) Right middle temporal gyrus Right temporal pole Morality \ (empathy–theory of mind) Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex Morality \ theory of mind \ empathy Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex Right temporo-parietal junction (PGp) Left temporo-parietal junction (PGa) Right middle temporal gyrus x 2 4 0 62 -50 54 54 -4 -5 52 -54 54 y 54 60 54 -54 -58 -16 2 50 54 -58 -58 -8 z -12 10 30 14 22 -16 -24 20 34 20 22 -16 All peaks are assigned to the most probable brain areas as revealed by the SPM Anatomy Toolbox (Eickhoff et al. 2007; Caspers et al. 2006; Eickhoff et al. 2005) activation more robustly linked to ToM versus empathy revealed an overlap in the bilateral vmPFC/FP/dmPFC and TPJ, as well as the right MTG and TP. Conversely, the conjunction across the neural network linked to moral cog- nition and the activation more robustly linked to empathy versus ToM revealed an overlap in the dmPFC. Besides results from this conjunction analysis, it is noteworthy that the left AM was found in the analysis of moral cognition- related brain activity, while the right AM was found in the analysis of empathy-related brain activity. Moreover, the PCC showed signiﬁcant convergence in both these individ- ual meta-analyses at adjacent, yet non-overlapping loca- tions. Speciﬁcally, convergence in the PCC was located slightly more rostro-dorsally in the ALE on moral cognition compared to the ALE on empathy (Fig. 1; Table 1). Finally, the conjunction analysis across the results of all three indi- vidual meta-analyses on moral cognition, ToM, and empa- thy yielded convergence in the dmPFC, right MTG, and bilateral TPJ. Additionally, we provide a list of those papers included in the present meta-analysis, which gave rise to the four converging clusters (Supplementary Table 2). Functional characterization Using the metadata of the BrainMap database for functional characterization as described above, we found that the 123 Brain Struct Funct (2012) 217:783–796 Fig. 1 ALE meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies on moral cogni- tion, theory of mind, and empathy. Signiﬁcant meta-analysis results displayed on frontal, right, and left surface view as well as sagittal, coronal, and axial sections of the MNI single-subject template. Coordinates in MNI space. All results were signiﬁcant at a cluster- forming threshold of p \ 0.05 and an extent threshold of k = 10 voxels (to exclude presumably incidental results) common network observed across all three task domains was selectively associated with tasks tapping ToM, semantic processing, imagination, and social cognition, as well as episodic and explicit memory (Fig. 3). The network thus appears to be exclusively involved in higher-level cognitive processing. Discussion Classic accounts of the psychology of moral cognition can be broadly divided into views that emphasize the involve- ment of either ‘rational’ or ‘emotional’ processes. In this study, we revisited this distinction by determining the consistent overlap between brain activation patterns