BB wk 6

Question 1

1st) James - Lange theory of emotion

Answer 1

Emotion producing situations elicit physiological responses and behaviours

Feedback from the organs and muscles involved organise how we feel about out emotion

e.g Mostar stimulus causes body to react which the feedback is then interpreted as emotion

Question 2

How did research from Hohman on patients with spinal injuries (impairing communication of outer body to brain) impact James - Lange theory of emotion

Answer 2

Found decreased experience of feeling anger, sexual excitement, fear and overall feelings

The more extensive the disruption, the greater the decrease in emotional feelings .

Suggesting that when our brainstem is unable to communicate with outer body, we feel emotions less intensely. Meaning that our outer body (organs) play some role in feeling out emotions

Question 3

2nd) Cannon - Bard Theory of emotion

Answer 3

Thalamus is the mediating centre in the brain e.g. stimulus activates subcortical activity in the Thalamus which simultaneously activates physiological responses and Feelings of emotion.

first of many to bring in brain

Question 4

3rd) Schachter - Singer theory of emotion

Answer 4

suggested emotional experiences are based on two factors (1) physiological arousal and 2) Cognitive label.

e.g. I am trembling bc of the zombie in the room, therefore I must be afraid.

first of many to bring in cognitive aspect

Question 5

The integration of fear is controlled by the

Answer 5

amygdalae

Question 6

The role of the Amygdala in fear processing

Lateral Nucleus (LA)

Answer 6

Main INPUT nucleus (receive info from rest of brain)

also sends internal (to rest of amygdala) and few external projections (to other parts of brain)

Question 7

The role of the Amygdala in fear processing

Basal nucleus

Answer 7

sends internal and limited external projections

Question 8

The role of the Amygdala in fear processing

Central nucleus

Answer 8

main OUTPUT nucleus

sends projections to various brain regions

Question 9

Damage to central nucleus of amygdala

(fear)

Answer 9

Reduce or abolish wide range of emotional responses:

Animals no longer show fear

e.g. mice with this damage are more tame around humans lower stress levels in blood

Question 10

lateral nucleus of amygdala is responsible for the establishment of a _________ emotional response

Neurons in LA communicate with neurons in the ______ ________

CE communicates with regions that are responsible for the behavioural, _______and hormonal components of the conditioned emotional response

Answer 10

conditioned

central nucleus (CE)

autonomic

Question 11

Extinction – Removing the association

…
The ________ _________ _________
(vmPFC) is responsible for
inhibiting these emotional
responses

Answer 11

Learned process that the
conditioned stimulus is no longer
followed by an aversive stimulus
– The conditioned response is
inhibited (extinction ≠ forgetting)
– The ventromedial prefrontal cortex
(vmPFC) is responsible for
inhibiting these emotional
responses

Question 12

The ventromedial prefrontal cortex
(vmPFC) is responsible for
inhibiting these emotional
responses

How do we know this ?

Answer 12

• Stimulation of the vmPFC
  inhibits conditioned emotional
  responses
• Extinction training activates
  vmPFC neurons
• Lesions to the vmPFC impair
  extinction

Question 13

phobias:

Answer 13

Phobias: Unreasonable fear associated
with a specific object or situation
– Avoidance of object or situation
– Persistence of fear over time
– Significant distress associated with the fear
or avoidance
– Awareness that phobia is irrational or
unreasonable

Question 14

Activation in the vmPFC predict

Answer 14

exposure therapy outcomes for
people with diagnosed spider phobias

Question 15

Three core features of emotional regulation

3 steps

Answer 15

1) Goal activation
2) engagement of processes responsible for altering emotional trajectory
3) Impact on emotion dynamics

e.g. want to stay calm so 1) figure out what triggers makes me not calm 2) figure out trajectories such as remove stimuli 3) Did this work?

Question 16

what are the 4 stages of Emotion generation / modal model of emotion

Answer 16

Situation -> Attention -> Appraisal -> Response

Question 17

Which strategy of Emotional regulation is used at each stage (and before the first stage) of Emotion generation / modal model of emotion

Answer 17

Before = Situation selection
Situation = situation modification
Attention = Attentional deployment
Appraisal = Cognitive change
Response = response modulation

Question 18

process model of emotional regulation, general process stages

Answer 18

Identification -> Selection (out of the 5 strategies) -> Implementation -> Monitoring (for success) -> loop

continuous process as some strategies won’t work

Question 19

anxiety vs mood related conditions. Is there a difference in the brain networks involvement in emotion regulation

Answer 19

Yes there is a general difference

difference (compared to norm) in regulation of negative emotions only for people with mood disorders .

Anxiety condition (compared to norm) emotional regulation was different in both negative and positive emotions.

Question 20

Aim: To test the convergence and divergence of
antidepressant- and psychotherapy-evoked neural
changes, and their overlap with the brain’s affect
network

Method: (1) Assess the common and distinct neural
changes evoked by antidepressant medication and
psychotherapy; (2) Assess whether the neural
changes overlapped with the brain’s emotional
network

Finding:

Answer 20

Findings: Both treatments lead to changes in the
emotion network, but the results suggest that their
effects on affect processing occur via different
neurocognitive mechanisms

e.g: psychotherapy, prefrontal cortex more involved. Whereas SSRI’s target brains affective state so may activate amygdala more due to more serotonin available.

Question 20

Aim: Evaluate whether neural responses to three
types of emotion processing (experience,
regulation, and perception) were able to predict
symptom improvement and correlate with symptom
change after either use with SSRIs or CBT

Participants: 55 treatment-seeking adults with
either depression and/or anxiety were randomized
to 12 weeks of SSRIs or CBT

Finding:

Answer 20

Amygdala and Insula activity during emotion perception is reduced by both SSRI and CBT treatments and predicts anxiety and depression symptom improvement