5: Social & Emotional Brain 1 Flashcards
define: emotion
a state associated with stimuli that are rewarding (i.e. that one works to obtain - pleasure) or punishing (i.e. that one works to avoid -pain)
what is Capgras syndrome?
a person believes that their loved ones have been replaced by identical looking imposters or body-doubles
what are the differences in skin conductivity for people with capgras syndrome?
Most people produce a greater skin conductance response to personally familiar faces, but patients with Capgras delusion do not
what functionally has happened to people with caprgas syndrome?
Consciously recognise the person but lack emotional response to them – familiar faces lose their learned emotional value
what are the 5 areas of the brain associated with emotion?
Amygdala
Insula
Orbitofrontal cortex
Anterior cingulate
Ventral striatum
where is the amygdala in the brain?
tip of left and right temporal lobes
what is the role of the hippocampus in emotion?
important in storing memories, especially their emotional content & declarative memory
if an animal has an amygdala lesion & you try and condition fear in them what happens?
Animal do not learn the conditioned response
if an animal has a conditioned fear and then receives an amygdala lesion, what happens?
Animal forgets the conditioned response = objects lose their learned emotional value
what kind of fear is the amygdala responsible for?
learnt not innate
how does amygdala activation correlate with skin conductance?
Amygdala activation correlated with high skin conductance response when learning a fear
what is the relationship between the amygdala and the hippocampus in relation to lesions and fear response?
double dissociation
what happens to patients with amygdala damage in relation to SCR & fear association?
No conditioned skin conductance response
Can recall association (they learn the association and verbally describe it)
what happens to patients with hippocampus damage in relation to SCR & fear association?
Skin conductance response present
Cannot recall association
how does amygdala damage affect emotion recognition?
Bilateral amygdala damage impairs fear expression recognition in faces (Adolphs et
al., 1994) - but people can recognised other emotions
what is the conscious route to the amygdala?
thalamus to visual cortex (visual pathway) to amygdala (conscious)
what is the subconscious route to the amygdala?
thalamus to the amygdala
do subliminal fear stimuli affect the body & if so how?
yes - higher SCR
how does visual cortex damage influence fearful face recognition/activation in the amygdala
it doesn’t
what areas of the brain does activity in the amygdala lead to activation in?
visual cortex, hypothalamus, anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex
what is the hypothalamus and anterior cingulate cortex involved in?
involved in preparing bodily responses
what is the role of the orbitofrontal cortex?
evaluating context/ appraisal of emotional stimuli
what kind of stimuli does the amygdala respond to?
positive & negative but not neutral
what are the symptoms of kluver-bucy syndrome?
tameness, emotional blunting, hyperorality (examining things with mouth)
what is the cause/explanation of kluver-bucy syndrome?
bilateral amygdala lesions - causes objects to lose their emotional value
where is the insula located?
bilaterally underneath the temporal lobes
what is the insula’s role?
- It is implicated in the creation of bodily feelings associated with emotions eg disgust
- Interoception
define interoception:
an internal sensory system in which the physical and emotional states of the person are consciously or unconsciously noticed, recognised and responded to
what kinds of disgust leads to activation in the insula?
personal disgust, observed disgust & moral disgust
what is the role of the orbitofrontal cortex?
Computing the current value & positivity/negativity of a stimulus
what part of the orbitofrontal cortex is activated when something is pleasant/rewarding?
medial OFC
what part of the orbitofrontal cortex is activated when something is suprising/unpleasant/punishing?
lateral OFC
if someone is presented with an angry face instead of a happy one, which part of their OFC will light up?
lateral
where is the anterior cingulate cortex?
above the corpus callosum on the medial surface of each hemisphere. (frontal lobe)
what part of the ACC is implicate in executive functions?
dorsal
what part of the ACC is implicated in emotional processing?
ventral
what is the role of the ACC
executive functions
emotional processing
determining the cost and benefit of actions (motivation)
regulating pain
what roles do the insula & ACC play in bodily responses
insula = input
ACC = output
what does a lesion in the ACC lead to physiologically?
interrupts skin conductance response, changes in blood pressure and heart rate
what kinds of pain is the ACC activated by?
personal, observed & social (eg exclusion)
what modulated ACC activation caused by observing pain in others?
if they seem to deserve the pain
what modulated ACC activation caused by social exclusion?
not as upset if there was a good reason why you are excluded
where is the ventral striatum?
part of the basal ganglia (limbic system) (frontal lobe)
which part of the basal ganglia is associated with sensorimotor properties/ habit forming?
dorsal
which part of the ventral striatum is associated with emotions?
ventral
what is the role of the limbic circuit?
- Dopaminergic system
- Linked to compulsive behaviours, such as
substance abuse
how does VS activity relate to size of reward?
Task with great monetary reward = greater activity in VS
how does VS activity relate to social reward?
Activity is greater when monetary reward is obtained via cooperation with another human compared to non -cooperation or computer
how does surprise influence VS activity?
Activity is greater when reward is better than expected
what is the social reward explanation of ASD?
children with ASD do not actively attend to the social environment because they do not find it intrinsically rewarding, leading to reduced cortical specialisation
Reduced seeking and liking of social interactions ultimately manifesting as global deficits in social functioning
