Isolation of new indole alkaloid triglucoside from the aqueous extract of Uncaria rhynchophylla.

Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.) Miq. (Rubiaceae) is widely used as a botanical raw material for traditional Japanese and Chinese medicines.

Ruthenium-Catalyzed Ortho C-H Arylation of Aromatic Nitriles with Arylboronates and Observation of Partial Para Arylation.

Ruthenium-catalyzed C-H arylation of aromatic nitriles with arylboronates is described. The use of RuH(CO){P(4-MeCH)} as a catalyst provided higher yields of the ortho arylation products than the conventional RuH(CO)(PPh) catalyst. The arylation takes place mostly at the ortho positions, but unprecedented para arylation was also partially observed to give ortho,para diarylation products.

The neural basis of dishonest decisions that serve to harm or help the target.

We conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to elucidate the neurocognitive mechanisms of harmful and helpful dishonest decisions. During scanning, the subjects read scenarios concerning events that could occur in real-life situations and were asked to decide whether to tell a lie as though they were experiencing those events. Half of the scenarios consisted of harmful stories in which the dishonest decisions could be regarded as bad lies, and the other half consisted of helpful stories in which the dishonest decisions could be regarded as good lies.

Dissociable neural systems for moral judgment of anti- and pro-social lying.

Pro-social lying, which serves to benefit listeners, is considered more socially and morally acceptable than anti-social lying, which serves to harm listeners. However, it is still unclear whether the neural mechanisms underlying the moral judgment of pro-social lying differ from those underlying the moral judgment of anti-social lying. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the neural activities associated with moral judgment in anti- and pro-social lying.

Neural basis of pleasant and unpleasant emotions induced by social reputation.

We used positron emission tomography to identify brain regions involved in the processing of emotions induced by social reputation from others. During positron emission tomographic scanning, individuals were presented with either a positive or a negative social reputation combined with face photographs of persons whom the individuals either liked or disliked. Behavioral results revealed that a positive reputation led to a higher pleasantness score than a negative reputation.

The role of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in deception when remembering neutral and emotional events.

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of deception while remembering neutral events and emotional events. Before fMRI, subjects were presented with a series of neutral and emotional pictures and were asked to rate each picture for arousal. During fMRI, subjects were presented with the studied and nonstudied pictures and were asked to make an honest recognition judgment in response to half of the pictures and a dishonest response to the remaining half.