Chapter 12: Emotional Behaviours Flashcards
1
Q
describe the influences of the autonomic nervous system on emotions
A
- sympathetic nervous system prepares for flight or fight
- emotions do not depend on feedback from muscle movements because people that are paralyzed still feel emotions
- paralysis does not impact ANS therefore it is possible that emotional feelings depend on feedback from autonomic responses
2
Q
Panic Attack
A
-extreme sympathetic NS arousal
3
Q
Emotions- smiles + frowns
A
- smiles and frowns slightly alter happiness
- smiles are not necessary for happiness
ex) Mobuis Syndrome- cannot move facial muscles
4
Q
effects of damage or inactivation of cortical structures and of the right vs. left hemisphere on emotional responsiveness
A
- much of cerebral cortex reacts to emotional situations
- insular cortex/insula is strongly activated with disgust but not only disgust
- variability of locations for each emotion
5
Q
Limbic System
A
-critical for emotion
6
Q
Left Hemisphere
A
- behavioural activation system
- LH especially frontal and temporal lobe marked by low to moderate autonomic arousal and tendency to approach (could be happy or anger)
- people with increased activity in LH=happier, more outgoing in more fun loving
7
Q
Right Hemisphere
A
- behavioural inhibition system
- R.H
- frontal temporal lobes increase attention and arousal
- inhibits action
- emotions fear and disgust
- people with activity in RH=socially withdrawn, less satisfied with life and prone to unpleasant emotions
8
Q
Damage to right temporal cortex
A
trouble identifying other people’s emotional expression or say whether 2 people are expressing same or different emotion
9
Q
Inactive RH
A
-people do not experience strong emotions or remember feeling them
10
Q
LH damage
A
-better at expressing and detecting emotions
11
Q
role of emotions in decision making and the brain areas that promote wise decision making
A
- fear alerts us to escape from danger
- anger directs us to attack an intruder
- disgust tells us to avoid something that may cause illness
- emotions are useful guide to make quick decisions
- people who are good at detecting their autonomic responses may have valid gut feelings about dangers they cannot consciously identify
- think of how an outcome will make us feel
12
Q
the brain areas that promote wise decision making
A
- when making decisions about right and wrong we rarely work it out rationally we do what feels right
- contemplating ethical decisions activates prefrontal cortex, cingulate gyrus and amygdala
- damage to prefrontal cortex blunts people’s emotions (except for bursts of anger) and often make impulsive decisions without considering consequences
13
Q
Damage to ventromedial prefrontal cortex
A
-deficient in sense of guilt
14
Q
Environmental Factors of Agressiveness
A
- people abused in childhood
- people who witnessed abuse with parents
- people who live in violent neighbourhood
- exposure to lead
15
Q
Hereditary Factors of Agressiveness
A
- cannot find a single gene or set of genes that account for all variations of aggressive behaviour
- violence=enhanced people with genetic predisposition and troubled early environment
- MAOa seems to be linked with increased aggression but unclear why this is
16
Q
Hormone Factors of Aggressiveness
A
- male aggressive behaviour relies on testosterone
- men=more violent than women
- depends on cortisol and serotonin as well
- aggression=high when high testosterone and low cortisol
- testosterone increases responses of amygdala to photos with angry faces
17
Q
roles of brain abnormalities and serotonin turnover in aggressive behavior
A
- isolating mice increases aggression and decreases serotonin turnover
- do not see same result in female mice
- people with less active form of tryptophan hydroxylase (enzyme that converts tryptophan to serotonin) are more likely to report frequent anger and aggression
- high levels of serotonin inhibit variety of impulses and low levels remove inhibitions
18
Q
Serotonin turnover
A
=amount of NT that neuron releases and replaces
19
Q
Low serotonin turnover in humans
A
-history of violent behaviour
20
Q
ways in which the amygdala promotes fear and anxiety
A
- experiences and genetics modify activity in the amygdala
- basolateral and central nuclei get input from pain fibres, vision, hearing making it well suited to establishing conditioned fears
- output from amygdala to hypothalamus controls autonomic fear response, also has axons to area of prefrontal cortex that control approach and avoidance responses, axons that extend to midbrain areas that send info to pons to control startle reflex
21
Q
Amygdala
A
- main area for regulating anxiety
- important for enhancing the startle reflex
- important for learning what to feel
22
Q
Toxoplasma gondii
A
-protozoa that reproduces in cats goes into rats and effects amygdala
23
Q
Long term generalized emotional arousal
A
-depends on part in brain called bed nucleus of the stria terminalis
24
Q
Amygdala damage
A
-can lead to Kluver Bucy Syndrome
25
effects of anxiety-reducing drugs
-benzodiazepines- bind to GABAa receptor that modifies sensitivity of GABA site, helps GABA bind more easily, exert effects in amygdala hypothalamus, midbrain and other areas
26
Anxiety
-increase by NTs orexin and CCK in amygdala or hippocampus
27
concept of the General Adaptation Syndrome, including its three stages and its implications for today’s crises
-any threat to the body, in addition to its specific effects, activate a generalized response to stress
28
Stages of General Adaptation Syndrome
Stage 1- Alarm
Stage 2-Resistance
Stage 3- Exhaustion
29
Stage 1- Alarm
-increase activity of sympathetic NS readying body for brief emergency activity
30
Stage 2- Resistance
- sympathetic response decrease
- adrenal cortex secretes cortisol and other hormones that help body maintain alertness, fight infections, and heal wounds
31
Stage 3- Exhaustion
- after intense prolonged stress
- individual is tired, inactive, and vulnerable because NS and immune systems no longer have energy to sustain heightened response
32
Stress-related illness
- wide spread in industrial societies due to changes in types of stress that we face
- many stresses are prolonged
ex) career, paying mortgage or caring for sick relative
33
components and functions of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
- activation of hypothalamus induces anterior pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) that stimulates adrenal cortex to secrete cortisol (enhances metabolic activity, increase blood levels of sugar and other nutrients)
- reacts more slowly but becomes dominant response to longterm stressors
- brief/moderate stress- increase attention, increase memory formation, increase performance on simple tasks, enhances immune system
- prolonged stress-impairs memory and immune system
34
components and functions of the immune system and the effects of brief or prolonged stressors on immune function
-consists of cells that protect body against viruses, bacteria, and intruders
35
Leukocytes
-white blood cells
36
B-Cells
secrete antiobodies that attach to specific atigens, attack unfamiliar antigens, defends body against viruses and bacteria, can also cause organ rejection
37
T-cells
- attack intruders cells and cells infected with virus
| - attacks all intruders directly (no antibody secretion)
38
Natural Killer Cells
- attaack turnover cells and cells infected with virus
| - attacks all intruders not just particular kind like B and T cells do
39
Cytokines
- small proteins produced by leukocytes and other cells in response to infection
- combat infections
- communicate with brain to elicit appropriate behaviours (way of telling brain body is ill)
- trigger hypothalamus to produce fever sleepiness, lack of energy, lack of appetite and loss of sex drive
40
Prostaglandins
- additional chemicals that promote sleepiness
- with cytokines responsbile for general adaptation syndrome
- increase production with infection that triggers immune system
41
Have been under a lot of stress
- start to feel ill
| - symptoms could be reactions to stress
42
Prolonged stress
- as draining as prolonged illness
| - harm hippocampus it becomes vulnerable via toxins or overstimulation that can damage or kill neurons in hippocampus
43
list the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and describe the relation between size of hippocampus, cortisol levels, and vulnerability to PTSD
- victims have smaller than average hippocampus
| - victims show lower than normal cortisol levels immediately after and weeks after traumatic event
44
PTSD hypothesis
-people with low cortisol levels are ill-equipped to combat stress and therefore are more vulnerable to damaging effects of stress and more prone to PTSD
45
Damage to amygdala
- no PTSD
| - therefore amygdala=essential for extreme emotional impact that produces PTSD
