13. Social Cognition Flashcards
which brain region maturing slower than other brain regions?
which age?
orbitofrontal cortex
> between ages 5 and 20
theory of mind: 3 kinds of theories
TOM
- module theories
> humans develop a theory of mind module, separate from, but build on other mental abilities
- theory theories
> theory of mind capabilities develop as a simple, implicit theory over the couse of development
- simulation theories
> we understand other minds by internally simulating the mental states of others in each situation
fully developed TOM is comprised of which 4 skills?
TOM:
- detection of intention of others (ID)
- detection of eye-direction (EDD)
- shared attention mechanism (SAM)
- theory if mind module (TOMM)
> those skills develop independently
which age does the shared attention mechanism develop?
what does it do?
SAM is developed around age 1
> the ability to understand when someone is directing their attention somewhere
what age does the theory of mind module develop?
what does it do?
TOMM develops around age 4, we learn that
> appereance and reality are not necessarily the same
> other people have mental and physical states
> i can fool or decieve others, understand hide and seek games
which brain regions involved in eye detection and gaze perception?
eye detection: superior temporal sulcus registers eyes and eye like stimuli
more complex stimuli: connectins between STS and parietal lobe (intraparietal sulcus IPS)
what do subjects with autism spectrum disorder show when presented with intentional gaze shifts?
> healthy subjects?
autistic subjects do not show activity in the posterior superior temporal sulcus
> healthy subjects do dispay activitiy
why is pointing important in the shared attention mechanism
pointing is a sign of triadic interaction
> not only do the two persons observe the same object, they also know that the other is looking too
which brain regions involved in shared attention?
(4)
involved in shared attention
- ventromedial PFC
- left superior frontal gyrus
- cingulate gyrus
- caudate nucleus
Neural basis for TOM
> 3 key regions in the brain
Neural basis vor TOM
- temporal poles: sumantic schemas that specify social rules
- parieto-temporal junction
> important for detecting other agents
> lesions in the are disrupt performance on TOM-tests
- medial frontal lobe
> attending to mental states (e.g. intentions of self and other)
> active in all fMRI studies of mentalizing
4 important aspects of emotions
(4)
emotions
- action schemes that prepare the organism for certain behaviours
- made up of a series of prosses
- recognizing emotion in other important for social interaction
- social neuroscience studies how the brain responds to other people
what are the 6 universal emotions by ekman?
ekmans uiversal emotions
- happy
- sad
- anger
- fear
- surprise
- disgust
why are more complex emotions not universal?
more complex emotions like pride or jealousy may require processing of social relations
> more likely to be regulated by cultural rules than basic emotions
Panksepp: what are the 4 fundamental “hard-wired” emotions in the mammilian brain?
- seeking
- fear
- rage
- panic
Panksepp: what are the 3 special purpose systems?
- lust
- care
- play
Patient DR: what happened after bilateral damage to amygdala?
Patient DR:
> he was disproportionally impaired at recognizing fear relative to other Ekman categories (in faces and voices)
> this is thus likely to be a categorical problem, and not perceptual
LeDoux: what is the function of the short route to the amygdala?
> stations?
the short route to the amygdala enables rapid detection of threat
> goes straight from thalamus to amygdala
LeDoux: 2 pathways of fear
- low road: short and emotional
> thalamus to amygdala
- high road: long and evaluative
> thalamus to cortex to amygdala
what does increased amygdala activity cause in the visual system?
why?
increased activity in the amygdala triggers increased activity in the visual cortex to enable more accurate identification of threatening stimulus
which brain regions percieves faces?
which brain region percieves objects?
faces: fusiform face area FFA
objects: parahippocampal gyri PHG
> both in inferior temporal lobe
what is the effect of eye contact on the brain?
eye contact effect:
> percieved eye contact modulates areas in the social brain network in cortical and subcortical regions
> eye contact is initially detected by subcortical route
what did Whalen find in 2004 in his studie about neural responses to different eye whites?
Whales:
> the amygdala was selectively activated in response to subliminally presented fearful vs happy eye whites
what is the influence of moderate levels of emotional arousal on memory?
why?
moderate levels of emotional arousal at the time of an event lead to better retention of explicit memories
> adrenalin and cortisol pathways begin in the amygdala
fMRI: which brain region is activated in disgust?
insula
patients with huntington’s have poor recognition of what?
poor recognition of disgust
how may happiness and suprise differ from fear and disgust?
happiness and suprise may have less localized representations in the brain
