Specificity of meta-emotion effects on moral decision-making.

A recently proposed dual process theory of moral decision-making posits that utilitarian reasoning (approving of harmful actions that maximize good consequences) is the result of cognitive control of emotion. This suggests that deficits in emotional awareness will contribute to increased utilitarianism. The present study explored the relative contributions of the different facets of alexithymia and the closely related constructs of emotional intelligence and mood awareness to utilitarian decision making. Participants (N = 86) completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Trait Meta Mood Scale, the Mood Awareness Scale, and a series of high-conflict, personal moral dilemmas validated by Greene et al. (2008). A brief neuropsychological battery was also administered to assess the possible confounds of verbal reasoning and abstract thinking ability. Principal components analysis revealed two latent factors—clarity of emotion and attention to emotion—which cut across all three meta-emotion instruments. Of these, low clarity of emotion—reflecting difficulty in reasoning thoughtfully about one's emotions—predicted utilitarian outcomes and provided unique variance beyond that of verbal and abstract reasoning abilities. Results are discussed in the context of individual differences in emotion regulation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

β-adrenergic receptor blockade by propranolol enhances retention in a multitrial passive-avoidance procedure.

The effect of β-adrenergic receptor blockade on retention in a mildly aversive passive-avoidance procedure was investigated. Rats were given passive-avoidance training—1 trial per day for 4 days—and were administered saline, the centrally and peripherally acting β-adrenergic blocker propranolol (4 or 10 mg/kg ip, or the peripherally acting β-adrenergic blocker sotalol (4 or 10 mg/kg ip) immediately or 2 hr after the 1st trial. Enhanced retention occurred only with the higher dose (10 mg/kg) of propranolol and only when it was administered immediately after training. The enhanced retention produced by propranolol is discussed in terms of opposing, regionally specific actions of β-adrenergic receptor-mediated neural circuits on modulation of memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotion-Modulated Performance and Activity in Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex.

Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to examine the relationship between processing of pleasant and unpleasant stimuli and activity in prefrontal cortex. Twenty volunteers identified the colors in which pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant words were printed. Pleasant words prompted more activity bilaterally in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) than did unpleasant words. In addition, pleasant words prompted more activity in left than in right DLPFC. Response speed to pleasant words was correlated with DLPFC activity. These data directly link positive affect, enhanced performance, and prefrontal activity, providing some of the first fMRI evidence supporting models of emotional valence and frontal brain asymmetry based on electroencephalography (EEG). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neural Mechanisms of Affective Interference in Schizotypy.

Negatively valenced stimuli foster cognitive impairment in schizotypy and schizophrenia. To identify relevant brain mechanisms, the authors had 16 positive-schizotypy and 16 control participants perform an emotional Stroop task, judging the ink color of negative and neutral words during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of regional brain activity. Schizotypy individuals showed increased right and decreased left activity in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, indicating a deficit in maintenance of attentional set in the presence of negative emotional distractors. They also showed abnormal activity in ventral limbic areas, including decreased activity in nucleus accumbens and increased activity in hippocampus and amygdala, a circuit involved in the integration of cognitive and affective processes. These results indicate that aspects of emotion-cognition processes and the brain mechanisms that implement them are similar in schizotypy and schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alkali-thermal gasification and hydrogen generation potential of biomass

Generating hydrogen gas from biomass is one approach to lowering dependencies on fossil fuels for energy and chemical feedstock, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Using both equilibrium simulations and batch experiments with NaOH as a model alkaline, this study established the technical feasibility of converting various biomasses (e.g., glucose, cellulose, xylan and lignin) into H₂-rich gas via catalyst-free, alkalithermal gasification at moderate temperatures (as low as 300 °C). This process could produce more H₂ with less carbon-containing gases in the product than other comparable methods. It was shown that alkali-thermal gasification follows C _x H _y O _z + 2xNaOH + (x–z)H₂O = (2x + y/2–z)H₂ + xNa₂CO₃, with carbonate being the solid product which is different from the one suggested in the literature. Moreover, the concept of hydrogen generation potential (H₂-GP)—the maximum amount of H₂ that a biomass can yield, was introduced. For a given biomass C _x H _y O _z , the H₂-GP would be (2x + y/2–z) moles of H₂. It was demonstrated experimentally that the H2-GP was achievable by adjusting the amounts of H₂O and NaOH, temperature and pressure.

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