title: Rationality and emotionality: serotonin transporter genotype influences reasoning bias.
abstract: Reasoning often occurs under emotionally charged, opinion-laden circumstances. The belief-bias effect indexes the extent to which reasoning is based upon beliefs rather than logical structure. We examined whether emotional content increases this effect, particularly for adults genetically predisposed to be more emotionally reactive. SS/SL(G) carriers of the serotonin transporter genotype (5-HTTLPR) were less accurate selectively for evaluating emotional relational reasoning problems with belief-logic conflict relative to L(A)L(A) carriers. Trait anxiety was positively associated with emotional belief-bias, and the 5-HTTLPR genotype significantly accounted for the variance in this association. Thus, deductive reasoning, a higher cognitive ability, is sensitive to differences in emotionality rooted in serotonin neurotransmitter function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, UCB 345, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. melanie.stollstorff@colorado.edu
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stollstorff
authors.forename: Stephanie E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Bean
authors.forename: Lindsay M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Devaney
authors.forename: Chandan J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Vaidya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003469:Culture; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008128:Logic; D008297:Male; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins