The time course of moral perception: an ERP investigation of the moral pop-out effect

Humans are highly attuned to perceptual cues about their values. A growing body of evidence suggests that people selectively attend to moral stimuli. However, it is unknown whether morality is prioritized early in perception or much later in cognitive processing. We use a combination of behavioral methods and electroencephalography to investigate how early in perception moral words are prioritized relative to non-moral words. The behavioral data replicate previous research indicating that people are more likely to correctly identify moral than non-moral words in a modified lexical decision task. The electroencephalography data reveal that words are distinguished from non-words as early as 200 ms after onset over frontal brain areas and moral words are distinguished from non-moral words 100 ms later over left-posterior cortex. Further analyses reveal that differences in brain activity to moral vs non-moral words cannot be explained by differences in arousal associated with the words. These results suggest that moral content might be prioritized in conscious awareness after an initial perceptual encoding but before subsequent memory processing or action preparation. This work offers a more precise theoretical framework for understanding how morality impacts vision and behavior

Molecular genetics of inherited antithrombin III deficiencies

The cloning of antithrombin III (ATIII) complementary deoxyribonucleic acids and the determination of the ATIII gene structure have permitted a systematic evaluation of the molecular basis for inherited ATIII deficiencies. Sixteen kindreds with the most common form of the deficiency, in which plasma ATIII antigen levels and activity are proportionately reduced, were studied. Two polymorphic deoxyribonucleic acid markers were used to resolve parental ATIII alleles and to trace their inheritance patterns. In 15 of 16 cases, the structure of the affected ATIII allele was indistinguishable from normal, suggesting that relatively small mutations, resulting in gene inactivation, are responsible for the lower ATIII levels in these affected families. In the remaining kindred, complete deletion of one ATIII allele was seen. Also investigated was the molecular basis for a qualitative form of ATIII deficiency in a French-Canadian family with normal levels of immunoreactive protein but only half the expected levels of serine protease inhibitor activity. Using polymorphic markers, the abnormal allele was identified, cloned, and partially sequenced from the propositus. A single G --> A transition was seen in the first base of codon 382, resulting in an alanine --> threonine substitution in the defective protein. This mutation, together with others in this vicinity, defines a minimal length for a fully functional thrombin-binding domain.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27759/1/0000152.pd

Antithrombin-III-Hamilton: a gene with a point mutation (guanine to adenine) in codon 382 causing impaired serine protease reactivity

Antithrombin-III-Hamilton is a structural mutant of antithrombin III with defective serine protease reactivity, demonstrable in three members of a French Canadian family. The propositus, a 54-year-old man with a history of recurrent thromboembolic events, and his two asymptomatic grown children are heterozygous for the mutant antithrombin III gene. In all three individuals, the immunoreactive antithrombin III level is normal, while the antithrombin and antifactor Xa activity is approximately 50% of the control value. Two dimensional immunoelectrophoresis of antithrombin-III-Hamilton in the presence of heparin is normal. Purified antithrombin-III-Hamilton did not form thrombin-antithrombin III complex when incubated with thrombin for up to 30 minutes. The normal and mutant antithrombin III alleles of the propositus could be distinguished by linkage to Pstl restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP). Genomic DNA from the propositus was cloned into EMBL 3 phage vectors and two clones containing nearly complete copies of the antithrombin-III-Hamilton allele were identified. Exon 6 of both clones was subcloned into M13 phage vector and sequenced, revealing a G----A point mutation in the first base of codon 382. Codon 382 codes for alanine in the normal allele and for threonine in the antithrombin-III-Hamilton allele. Alanine-382, 12 residues from the reactive center, is a highly conserved amino acid in the family of serine protease inhibitors known as the serpins. We postulate that, as a result of the substitution of threonine for alanine in antithrombin-III-Hamilton, either the tertiary structure or the hydrophobicity of the thrombin-binding region is altered, causing aberrant conformation of the Arg-393-Ser-394 bond at the reactive center impairing the interaction between antithrombin-III-Hamilton and the activated serine proteases.</jats:p

Antithrombin-III-Hamilton: a gene with a point mutation (guanine to adenine) in codon 382 causing impaired serine protease reactivity

Abstract Antithrombin-III-Hamilton is a structural mutant of antithrombin III with defective serine protease reactivity, demonstrable in three members of a French Canadian family. The propositus, a 54-year-old man with a history of recurrent thromboembolic events, and his two asymptomatic grown children are heterozygous for the mutant antithrombin III gene. In all three individuals, the immunoreactive antithrombin III level is normal, while the antithrombin and antifactor Xa activity is approximately 50% of the control value. Two dimensional immunoelectrophoresis of antithrombin-III-Hamilton in the presence of heparin is normal. Purified antithrombin-III-Hamilton did not form thrombin-antithrombin III complex when incubated with thrombin for up to 30 minutes. The normal and mutant antithrombin III alleles of the propositus could be distinguished by linkage to Pstl restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP). Genomic DNA from the propositus was cloned into EMBL 3 phage vectors and two clones containing nearly complete copies of the antithrombin-III-Hamilton allele were identified. Exon 6 of both clones was subcloned into M13 phage vector and sequenced, revealing a G----A point mutation in the first base of codon 382. Codon 382 codes for alanine in the normal allele and for threonine in the antithrombin-III-Hamilton allele. Alanine-382, 12 residues from the reactive center, is a highly conserved amino acid in the family of serine protease inhibitors known as the serpins. We postulate that, as a result of the substitution of threonine for alanine in antithrombin-III-Hamilton, either the tertiary structure or the hydrophobicity of the thrombin-binding region is altered, causing aberrant conformation of the Arg-393-Ser-394 bond at the reactive center impairing the interaction between antithrombin-III-Hamilton and the activated serine proteases.</jats:p

The time-course of moral perception: An electroencephalography investigation

Humans are highly attuned to perceptual cues about their values. A growing body of evidence suggests that people selectively attend to moral stimuli. However, it is unknown whether morality is prioritized early in perception or much later in cognitive processing. We use a combination of behavioral methods and electroencephalography to investigate how early in perception moral words are prioritized relative to non-moral words. The behavioral data replicate previous research indicating that people are more likely to correctly identify moral than non-moral words in a modified lexical decision task. The electroencephalography data reveal that words are distinguished from non-words as early as 200 milliseconds after onset over frontal brain areas, and moral words are distinguished from non-moral words 100 milliseconds later over left-posterior cortex. Further analyses reveal that differences in brain activity to moral vs. non-moral words cannot be explained by differences in arousal associated with the words. These results suggest that moral content might be prioritized in conscious awareness after an initial perceptual encoding but before subsequent memory processing or action preparation. This work offers a more precise theoretical framework for understanding how morality impacts vision and behavior

The time-course of moral perception: An ERP investigation of the moral pop-out effect

Humans are highly attuned to perceptual cues about their values. A growing body of evidence suggests that people selectively attend to moral stimuli. However, it is unknown whether morality is prioritized early in perception or much later in cognitive processing. We use a combination of behavioral methods and electroencephalography to investigate how early in perception moral words are prioritized relative to non-moral words. The behavioral data replicate previous research indicating that people are more likely to correctly identify moral than non-moral words in a modified lexical decision task. The electroencephalography data reveal that words are distinguished from non-words as early as 200 milliseconds after onset over frontal brain areas, and moral words are distinguished from non-moral words 100 milliseconds later over left-posterior cortex. Further analyses reveal that differences in brain activity to moral vs. non-moral words cannot be explained by differences in arousal associated with the words. These results suggest that moral content might be prioritized in conscious awareness after an initial perceptual encoding but before subsequent memory processing or action preparation. This work offers a more precise theoretical framework for understanding how morality impacts vision and behavior

The time course of moral perception: an ERP investigation of the moral pop-out effect

Abstract Humans are highly attuned to perceptual cues about their values. A growing body of evidence suggests that people selectively attend to moral stimuli. However, it is unknown whether morality is prioritized early in perception or much later in cognitive processing. We use a combination of behavioral methods and electroencephalography to investigate how early in perception moral words are prioritized relative to non-moral words. The behavioral data replicate previous research indicating that people are more likely to correctly identify moral than non-moral words in a modified lexical decision task. The electroencephalography data reveal that words are distinguished from non-words as early as 200 ms after onset over frontal brain areas and moral words are distinguished from non-moral words 100 ms later over left-posterior cortex. Further analyses reveal that differences in brain activity to moral vs non-moral words cannot be explained by differences in arousal associated with the words. These results suggest that moral content might be prioritized in conscious awareness after an initial perceptual encoding but before subsequent memory processing or action preparation. This work offers a more precise theoretical framework for understanding how morality impacts vision and behavior.</jats:p

The time-course of moral perception: An ERP investigation of the moral pop-out effect

Humans are highly attuned to perceptual cues about their values. A growing body of evidence suggests that people selectively attend to moral stimuli. However, it is unknown whether morality is prioritized early in perception or much later in cognitive processing. We use a combination of behavioral methods and electroencephalography to investigate how early in perception moral words are prioritized relative to non-moral words. The behavioral data replicate previous research indicating that people are more likely to correctly identify moral than non-moral words in a modified lexical decision task. The electroencephalography data reveal that words are distinguished from non-words as early as 200 milliseconds after onset over frontal brain areas, and moral words are distinguished from non-moral words 100 milliseconds later over left-posterior cortex. Further analyses reveal that differences in brain activity to moral vs. non-moral words cannot be explained by differences in arousal associated with the words. These results suggest that moral content might be prioritized in conscious awareness after an initial perceptual encoding but before subsequent memory processing or action preparation. This work offers a more precise theoretical framework for understanding how morality impacts vision and behavior.</p