6: The Social & Emotional Brain 2 Flashcards
what is the most ‘expensive’ organ in the body?
heart
what is the social cognition hypothesis?
social cognition, the mental operations underlying social interactions, including perceiving, interpreting, and generating responses to the intentions, dispositions, and behaviors of others, is a key component of human intelligence and social functioning.
is postnatal experience essential for face preference?
no - it is found in foetuses
at what age did foetuses show a preference for faces?
34 weeks
how do newborns (1st hour) react to face - like patterns?
newborns prefer face-like patterns, and are sensitive to the structure of the human face
what area of the brain is activated by faces at 5 months?
right occipital lobe
what was the difference between happy and fearful facial processing at 5 month?
no difference, sensitivity to facial emotions immature at this age
in the visual cliff at 12 months, if a mother expressed interest/joy did the baby cross?
yes
in the visual cliff at 12 months, if a mother expressed fear/anger did the baby cross?
no
what does the visual cliff teach us about infant decision making?
at 1 year infants use the emotions of others to inform their decision making - especially during uncertain situations
do infants show a preference for open/closed eyes
yes - open eyes are preferred
at what age will infants shift their gage to follow another’s eye direction?
4 months
what is the suggested explanation for infants’ predisposition to focusing on eyes?
the contrast of the while to the pupil is very distinct for infants who will have poor visual acuity
do newborns have a preference surrounding gaze?
yes - they prefer direct gaze
what was the ERP associated with neural gaze in infants
N170 showed enhanced neural processing of direct gaze
what part of eye gaze detection do autistic people struggle with?
using eye gaze information to predict behaviour - not if someone is looking at you or not
which 2 parts of the brain are the basis for eye-gaze detection
Superior Temporal Sulcus & Fusiform Face Area
is the role of the superior temporal sulcus in eye-gaze detection?
o Activated in the eye gaze detection task
o Involved in changeable features of the face
o Lesion impairs the ability to detect gaze direction
what is the role of the Fusiform Face Area in eye-gaze detection?
o Activated in the face identity task
o Processing of unchangeable features of facial features
when looking at superior temporal sulcus activity in an eye gaze task looking at goal & non-goal-oriented eye movements, what was the difference between participants with ASD & non-ASD participants?
ASD participants showed less difference in STS activation for the goal vs non-goal-oriented eye gaze (the goal didn’t affect their STS activity that much) compared to non-ASD participants
what part of eye gaze detection is influenced in people with ASD?
perception of the gaze shift not linked with its mentalistic significance (intention)
what are the 2 components of empathy?
affective & cognitive
define: affective empathy
the physiological response to another’ emotions
define: cognitive empathy
our understanding of another’s thoughts, intentions etc
which theory/mechanism is linked to affective empathy?
mirroring/ simulation theory
which theory/mechanism is linked to cognitive empathy?
mentalising/ Theory of mind
define: theory of mind
The ability to infer mental states (desires, feelings) and intentions of others
what parts of the brain are associated with empathy & theory of mind?
o the medial prefrontal cortex
o temporoparietal junction
o temporal poles
what part of the mind is exclusively for empathy not theory of mind?
amygdala
what part of the mind is exclusively for theory of mind not empathy?
orbitofrontal cortex
what is the role of the temporal poles?
o Language and semantic memory
o Possible role: Representing/activating semantic schemas that specify current social and emotional context
what is the role of the parieto-temporal junction?
o Activated by perception of biological motion, eye-gaze, moving mouth and living things
o Possible role: detecting other agents
what is the role of the prefrontal cortex?
o Activated more by thinking about people than thinking about objects
o Activated more by thinking about minds than thinking about physical characteristics
o Pragmatics of language: metaphors, irony – intention needs to be derived in order to
understand
o Possible Role: binding together different kinds of info: actions, agents, goals, beliefs etc.
what is the conclusion from children under 4 failing the sally-ann task?
they cannot yet form a representation of other persons mental state
what is a criticism of the sally-ann task?
- False belief tasks not only involve representing others’ mental states
- Involves inhibition and problem solving
- What if ToM is present earlier, but we can’t measure it using a traditional false belief task
what were the findings of the food preference task looking at toddler’s theory of mind?
o 14-month-olds: 54% gave the preferred food to the experimenter
o 18-month-olds: 92% gave the preferred food to the experimenter
what is the disharmony between the sally-ann, smurf and food preference tasks for children’s theory of mind
sally ann= TOM at 4-5 years
food preference= TOM at 18 months
smurf = 7 months
what does the smurf test on theory of mind teach us infants understanding?
- The beliefs of the agent influenced the infants’ looking behaviour, even though they clashed with the infants’ own beliefs.
- Infants computed the agent’s (smurf’s) belief
computing others’ beliefs is spontaneous, automatic and effortless and infants can do it at 7 months
what is the correct timeline for preference for face-like stimuli, facial expression recognition, theory of mind & sensitivity to eye-gaze info?
o Preference for face-like stimuli – in utero
o Sensitivity to eye-gaze information – first few days of life
o Facial expression recognition – 2nd half of first year
o ToM – at least some aspects present in the 2nd half of first year