[AndrewC]

If anything, a hot event would be more emotionally laden.

Yes, precisely and also subconscious. Many "decisions" never reach the conscious level yet influence our actions. As one gains more life experiences, I believe more and more of this experience is condensed in "feelings" that are not expressed as a logical conclusion that can be expressed as a series of logical statements leading to the conclusion rather a vague nagging "something doesn't feel right" or "this is the right thing to do".

[Nebullis]

But this subconscious level is exactly what this study is exploring. Moral consciousness is in that realm of "feeling". Something feels right or wrong. And it appears that the first pattern that neurons are fired in, at that subconscious level, is the pattern that all subsequent neurons "run with".