Negative emotionality downregulation affects moral choice but not moral judgement of harm: a pharmacological study.

Previous neuroscientific research has expounded on the fundamental role played by emotion during moral decision-making. Negative emotionality has been observed to exert a general inhibitory effect towards harmful behaviors against others. Nevertheless, the downregulation of negative affects at different levels of moral processing (e.g. impersonal versus personal moral dilemmas) alongside its possible interactions with other factors (e.g. perspective taking) hasn't been directly assessed; both of which can assist in predicting future moral decision-making. In the present research, we empirically test (Study 1, N = 41) whether downregulating negative emotionality through pharmacological interventions using lorazepam (a GABA receptor agonist), modulate the permissibility of harm to others -i.e. if participants find it more morally permissible to harm others when harm is unavoidable (inevitable harm moral dilemmas), than when it may be avoided (evitable harm moral dilemmas). Furthermore, using another sample (Study 2, N = 31), we assess whether lorazepam's effect is modulated by different perspective-taking conditions during a moral dilemma task -e.g. "is it morally permissible for you to […]?" (1st person perspective), relative to "is it morally permissible for [x individual] to […]?" (3rd person perspective)-, where the outcome of the different scenarios is controlled. The results of both studies converge, revealing an emotion-dependent, rather than an outcome-dependent, pharmacological modulation. Lorazepam only influenced interpersonal moral judgments when not modulated by the evitable/inevitable condition. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction between perspective-taking and drug administration, as lorazepam exerted a larger effect in modulating moral choices rather than moral judgements.

The Multifaceted Effects of Serotonin Transporter Polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) on Anxiety, Implicit Moral Attitudes, and Harmful Behaviors.

Morality is fundamentally human in nature. Regardless, and even when moral norms seem to work toward the common goal of human cooperation, which morally contentious behaviors are permitted and which are prohibited vary across populations. Because of this occurrence, much scientific debate has revolved around the notion that this phenomenon might be explained by the interaction between genes and environment. Alongside, whether the principles cementing the bases of morality are intuition- or reason-based is another question that has been raised. However, previous research addressing these topics used explicit measures to probe moral attitudes, thus being the participants able to intentionally modify or disguise their honest responses. What's more, while the 5-HTT gene was found to be associated with anxiety, morality, and even cultural structures, a single genotype-phenotype linkage cannot be established without considering the multifaceted effects of the 5-HTT gene on gene-behavior interactions. In order to explore the role of genetics on modeling moral attitudes and behaviors, we genotyped the 5-HTTLPR in 114 healthy volunteers and subsequently assessed their explicit justice sensitivity (Justice Sensitivity Inventory) and moral permissibility judgments, as well as their implicit moral attitudes [moral implicit association task (mIAT)]. Results revealed that 5-HTTLPR short-allele carriers had significantly lower mIAT reaction times when answering correctly and were less compliant on harming another person even when harm or death would inevitably occur anyway to this other individual. With these preliminary results, we can first see how it does not have to be a matter of vouching for a rationalist versus an intuitionist model of moral judgment, but rather being moral judgment an outcome of the different variants of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism affecting the way in which individuals engage contrastingly with moral issues.

Robust high-Q filter with complete transmission by conjugated topological photonic crystals.

High quality factor (High-Q) and transmission optical devices are required for various applications in the fields of physics and engineering. Critical for these applications is the realization of a structure with high-Q, complete transmission and small volume. A robust high-Q filter with complete transmission by conjugated topological photonic crystals (CTPC) is presented. The study shows that an ultra-high-Q of more than 108 with complete transmission is obtained by the CTPC with 2 µm long due to the excitation of conjugated topological edge-states (CTES). It is also found that even though the quality factor of resonances increases as the periodic number of multilayers increases, these resonances are still complete transmission. A novel concept of CTES is first proposed in this study and investigated the effect of its topological phenomenon on high quality factor via CTPC. We theoretically realize the robust high-Q and complete transmission in the CTPC, which is different from those in periodic, quasi-periodic, Fabry-Perot photonic crystals and traditional topological photonic crystals (TPC).

Effects of moist cold stratification on germination, plant growth regulators, metabolites and embryo ultrastructure in seeds of Acer morrisonense (Sapindaceae).

Breaking of seed dormancy by moist cold stratification involves complex interactions in cells. To assess the effect of moist cold stratification on dormancy break in seeds of Acer morrisonense, we monitored percentages and rates of germination and changes in plant growth regulators, sugars, amino acids and embryo ultrastructure after various periods of cold stratification. Fresh seeds incubated at 25/15 °C for 24 weeks germinated to 61%, while those cold stratified at 5 °C for 12 weeks germinated to 87% in 1 week. Neither exogenous GA3 nor GA4 pretreatment significantly increased final seed germination percentage. Total ABA content of seeds cold stratified for 12 weeks was reduced about 3.3-fold, to a concentration similar to that in germinated seeds (radicle emergence). Endogenous GA3 and GA7 were detected in 8-week and 12-week cold stratified seeds but not in fresh seeds. Numerous protein and lipid bodies were present in the plumule, first true leaves and cotyledons of fresh seeds. Protein and lipid bodies decreased greatly during cold stratification, and concentrations of total soluble sugars and amino acids increased. The major non-polar sugars in fresh seeds were sucrose and fructose, but sucrose increased and fructose decreased significantly during cold stratification. The major free amino acids were proline and tryptophan in fresh seeds, and proline increased and tryptophan decreased during cold stratification. Thus, as dormancy break occurs during cold stratification seeds of A. morrisonense undergo changes in plant growth regulators, proteins, lipids, sugars, amino acids and cell ultrastructure.

Kinematic analysis of a functional and sequential bimanual task in patients with left hemiparesis: intra-limb and interlimb coordination.

PURPOSE: To characterise upper limb performance of each hand (intra-limb coordination) and interlimb coordination on a functional, sequential bimanual task in patients with left hemiparesis and age-matched controls. METHOD: Fourteen patients with left hemiparesis (age: 60.01 +/- 9.09 years) and 13 adults without neurological impairments (age: 59.14 +/- 10.59 years) were instructed to reach-to-grasp a jar with the affected/left limb and to unscrew the jar cap with the unaffected/right limb. Reaching and grasping kinematics were analysed for intra-limb coordination and bimanual synchronisation and temporal correlation for interlimb coordination. RESULTS: The patients showed significantly less efficient, less smooth, and less forceful movement and spent significantly more time for on-line error correction with the affected hand than the healthy controls. Interlimb coordination was disrupted at movement onset but was preserved at movement end in the hemiparetic patients. CONCLUSIONS: The major deficits of the left hemiparetic patients involved heavy reliance on feedback control with the affected hand, and poor bimanual coordination at movement onset, which might be specifically retrained during stroke rehabilitation. Preservation ofinterlimb coordination at movement end in stroke patients suggested that they retained flexibility in response to the impaired temporal performance of the affected hand to achieve the end goal.

Effects of object size on intralimb and interlimb coordination during a bimanual prehension task in patients with left cerebral vascular accidents.

Stroke patients are often left with hemiplegia or hemiparesis of the upper extremities, severely limiting the ability to perform bimanual and functional activities. No studies have investigated how stroke patients adapt their movements to changes in object size in functionally asymmetric bimanual tasks. The influence of object size on intralimb and interlimb coordination during an asymmetrical, functional bimanual task was examined in patients with left cerebral vascular accidents (LCVA) and healthy controls. Fourteen LCVA patients and 13 age-matched controls were instructed to reach to grasp a large and a small jar with the right/affected hand and to open the cap with the other hand. Movement kinematics was analyzed for intralimb coordination (spatial and temporal planning of reaching and grasping) and interlimb coordination (bimanual synchronization and temporal association of the hands). The results demonstrate a spatial adaptation of reaching in the affected hand to the object size and deficits in temporal planning of grasping with the affected hand to object size in the stroke patients. Movement adaptations of the unaffected hand in the stroke patients were similar to those in the healthy adults. Bimanual coordination was independent of object size for both groups.

A randomized controlled trial of modified constraint-induced movement therapy for elderly stroke survivors: changes in motor impairment, daily functioning, and quality of life.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the benefits of modified constraint-induced movement therapy (mCIMT) on motor function, daily function, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in elderly stroke survivors. DESIGN: Two-group randomized controlled trial, with pretreatment and posttreatment measures. SETTING: Rehabilitation clinics. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-six elderly stroke patients (mean age, 72 y) with 0.5 to 31 months postonset of a first-ever cerebrovascular accident. INTERVENTIONS: Twenty-six patients received either mCIMT (restraint of the unaffected limb combined with intensive training of the affected limb) or traditional rehabilitation for a period of 3 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcome measures included the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), FIM instrument, Motor Activity Log (MAL), and Stroke Impact Scale (SIS). The FMA evaluated the severity of motor impairment; the FIM instrument and MAL reported daily function; and the SIS detected HRQOL. RESULTS: The mCIMT group exhibited significantly greater improvements in motor function, daily function, and the physical domain of HRQOL than the traditional rehabilitation group. Patients in the mCIMT group perceived significantly greater percent of recovery after treatment than patients in the traditional rehabilitation group. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest mCIMT is a promising intervention for improving motor function, daily function, and physical aspects of HRQOL in elderly patients with stroke. The mCIMT was well tolerated by the elderly patients even though it is a rigorous training program.